


He Was Never the Enemy

by malfoypolix



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Community: DRARRY : Fanfiction and Fanart Facebook Group, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 77,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15921198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malfoypolix/pseuds/malfoypolix
Summary: Harry Potter is trying to figure out what's up with Malfoy. When he finds Malfoy in the bathroom, Harry realizes that Draco's not as bad as he thought all those years. But will Draco being a Death Eater get in the way of their relationship?6th year. Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter - Drarry





	1. Chapter 1

And Harry was back for a sixth year at Hogwarts. Only this time, he was almost sent back to London because of Draco Malfoy.

Oh, how he hated Draco Malfoy.

The Sorting Ceremony was done and everyone finished the feast, and Dumbledore said a few words before everyone headed to their dorms. Harry went up to his dorm, tired and annoyed with Malfoy. He knew he had to be up to something, but despite his tries to talk about it to Ron, no one seemed to listen to him nor believe him.

Harry decided it was best for him to gather some proof before telling Hermione and Ron about it further because they obviously they didn’t believe him during the feast when he went on about how Malfoy is annoying. Harry drifted off into a deep sleep.

******

Harry woke the next day and got ready before going to breakfast. Everyone got their schedules and so did he. Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table in the hall, only to see that Draco wasn’t there. He opened his mouth to say something about it to Ron when Harry saw Draco entering the Hall.

Draco shot a glare at Harry when he noticed he was staring. Harry, however, didn’t look away. He watched Draco as he sat down at the Slytherin table. 

“Harry? Harry, are you even listening?” Hermione asked, snapping him out of his daze. “Are you still on about Draco being suspicious?” She said with an annoyed expression on her face as she turned to look at Draco, who now shot a glare at her as well.

“Looks like he’s completely normal to me,” Ron said when he noticed Draco glaring at them. Harry finally looked away from him and focused on his food.

“The first class we have is Defence Against the Dark Arts with Snape,” Hermione stated, before listing out all of the classes they had. Harry focused on his food, only half paying attention to Hermione when a dreamy voice behind him spoke.

“Harry, so sorry to bother you on the second day back, but it seems as if my shoes have gone missing again.” Luna Lovegood said in her usual dreamy voice, smiling softly at Harry. “I am truly sorry for asking you of this, but could you help me look for them?”

Harry turned to face Hermione and Ron who were caught up in their own conversation, bickering about their schedules, before turning back to Luna. “Sure.” He said and stood up, leaving the hall with Luna.

They walked around the whole castle, but Luna’s shoes were nowhere to be found. They eventually went outside, to the lake where there was a tree beside it.

“Oh, there it is,” Luna said casually, looking up at the branch where her shoes were tied. Harry reached up and got it for her, handing it to her. Just then, Harry heard the bell chime at the Clock Tower, indicating the start of class. “Thank you, Harry!”

Luna skipped off to class, taking her sweet time as she did so, her shoes in her hands. Harry simply chuckled before quickly going to his first class.

“Ah, Mr. Potter, so nice of you to join us,” Snape said in his usual demeaning voice, “Ten minutes late. Twenty points from Gryffindor. And please come, sit over here.” Snape pointed to an empty table right at the front of the class. Harry rolled his eyes and went to sit down. Just as Harry sat down, Draco entered the classroom. Gryffindors had Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins this year.

“Mr. Malfoy, late as well. Come to sit beside Mr. Potter, will you?” Snape said with an eye roll. Draco made his way to the front of the class. Both Harry and Draco scoffed when they made eye contact with each other. “This is the seating arrangement for the rest of the year,” Snape said, especially glancing over to Harry when he finished his last sentence. Usually, professors don’t give out seating arrangements, but Harry guessed that Snape just hated him so much he made him sit next to Malfoy.

They got out their books and Snape started with the lesson.

Draco took off before the bell could even ring, signaling the end of class. He was highly aware of Harry eyeing him during the whole of the lesson. Harry was trying to see if he was behaving strangely. He knew something was up with Draco.

Harry gathered his stuff and caught up with Ron and Hermione, and they all walked to their next class, Potions.

“I’m telling you, Malfoy’s behaving very strangely!” Harry started up again. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. “I was sitting next to him throughout the whole class! He’s got to be a Death Eater-”

“Harry!” Hermione hissed when several people turned to Harry at the mention of Death Eaters. “Besides, he’s only sixteen! He’s underage. Surely You-Know-Who would think he’s too young. I really think you should let it go, Harry.”

“Yeah, mate, I agree with ‘Mione,” Ron said with a nod. Harry fell back in his pace, watching as his two best friends rushed into class, slowly following after him.

How could they not believe him? Harry scoffed and entered the classroom.

He was going to figure out what was up with Malfoy.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It has been a month since Harry decided to figure out what Malfoy is up to. Harry now sat down at the Gryffindor table, tiredly starting to eat his breakfast. 

“Harry, will you stop obsessing over Malfoy?” Hermione suddenly said, practically glaring at Harry. “This is the third time this week you’ve shown up late to breakfast! You’ve got to stop.”

Harry had spent the last few weeks looking at the Marauders Map, trying to find out where Draco had been going, he was disappearing during classes from time to time.

It was October and Harry didn’t have any evidence that Draco was up to something. He sighed now, rolling his eyes at Hermione. 

“But he  _ is  _ up to something. Look, he hasn’t shown up to-”

“He did. On  _ time. _ Unlike you.” Hermione cut him off, annoyed. Harry turned to see Draco playing with his food rather than eating. Harry watched as Draco’s friends around him were having a conversation but he wasn’t even paying attention. Draco actually even seemed a little… sad.

“What are you staring at, Potter?” Draco spat, snapping Harry out of his daze. Harry turned away from Draco and returned to eating. 

“Harry, are we on for Quidditch practice with the team today or are you going to obsess over Malf-” 

“Yes, we are.” Harry cut off Ron, annoyed. He was  _ not  _ obsessing over Malfoy! To hell with him! Harry just wanted to know what Draco has been up to since he’s acting suspiciously. 

Of course, he didn’t waste his breath saying this to Ron and Hermione, they already seemed annoyed with him. “See you later,” Harry said in an annoyed tone, getting up and leaving the Hall without looking back. 

“Oh Harry, hello,” Luna said in her casual dreamy voice as she skipped down the hallway to him. “You seem troubled. Is it the Wrackspurts? They’re usually not around Hogwarts but you never know.” 

“No, Luna, thanks for worrying, though,” Harry said and gave her a small smile. “How have you been?”

But before Luna could answer, Malfoy walked right in between them and past them, then turned around and scowled at Harry. 

“Stop taking up space in the hallway as if it’s yours, Potter.” He snarled, but it seemed stale; plain. Harry waited for Draco to make a comment about him hanging out with Luna or something about him being the “Chosen One”, but he got nothing. Instead, Draco turned around and stormed off. 

“He seems nicer than usual,” Luna said as she watched him storm off. Harry smiled slightly. At least Luna agreed that he was acting strangely. “I better go to class, I don’t want to make you late again. Later, Harry.” 

And with that, Luna skipped away, this time, her shoes on her feet. 

********

Harry finished off Quidditch practice in a blur. He was completely unfocused the whole time. 

“Harry, are you alright?” Ginny asked him as the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked to the Changing Rooms. Harry just nodded. He really did not want to talk to anyone at that moment. 

Harry grabbed his stuff and walked to his dorm. He was the Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor house, but he didn’t seem into it anymore. He was tired and just wanted to know what Draco was up to.

Harry slowly looked through his book with the Half-Blood Prince’s notes as he sat down on his bed. He slowly got out the Marauders Map when everyone in his dorm went down to the Gryffindor Common Room to hang out there. 

Draco’s name was nowhere in sight. Harry put away the Map and continued studying his Potions textbook. He was getting nowhere. Were his friends right? Was he just ‘obsessing’ over Malfoy for no reason? No, he couldn’t be. Malfoy definitely had to be up to something. 

Harry eventually fell asleep, tired from all the thoughts circling him.

  
  


 


	3. Chapter 3

Harry’s first Quidditch match of the year went well. They had won against Slytherin. It was now December. 

Harry was invited to stay at The Burrow for the winter break, but he refused when he found out that Draco Malfoy was going to stay at Hogwarts during the break. Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes when Harry told them he was going to figure out what Malfoy was up to, but they decided to stay at Hogwarts during the break too. 

Katie Bell was recently cursed and was sent to St Mungo’s Hospital. 

“I suspect a Death Eater was behind it,” Harry said for the billionth time as he sat in the Gryffindor Common Room with Hermione and Ron. Hermione sighed, picking up her book and pretending she didn’t hear what Harry said. Ron simply shrugged. Neither of them had the energy to tell Harry to stop obsessing over it. 

It was the first day of Winter Break, and most of the Gryffindors had gone back for the holidays. 

Harry had been going for private lessons with Dumbledore and he was figuring out about Voldemort’s past, but he just couldn’t stop wondering about Draco.

“I’m going to take a walk,” Harry said when Ginny entered the Common Room with Dean. He seemed to not like it whenever Ginny was around with Dean. Did he like Ginny? (spoiler alert: no - he is very much gay) 

Harry walked around the hallways, his mind racing. It was almost time for dinner. He slowly went up to the bathrooms. Before he entered, he heard someone breathing heavily and sobbing. 

Harry slowly stepped into the bathroom, only to see someone by the sink. 

Draco turned around when he saw someone behind him in the mirror. His face was pale, his lips were dry, his face was streaked with tears and his eyes looked lost. As a natural instinct, he immediately got out his wand and pointed it at Harry.

They locked eyes for several moments. 

“Get out,” Draco demanded. The tears were still falling down his face, the hand he was holding his wand with shaking.

And suddenly Harry was walking towards him. He gently lowered Draco’s hand that was still pointed at Harry with his wand. And he did something he never expected. 

Harry hugged him. 

And suddenly Harry forgot. He forgot that Draco was his enemy, that Draco has bullied him and his friends, that he has insulted him immensely for the past six years. Suddenly, he had seen past the rude exterior. Suddenly, he saw something most didn’t see. 

Harry saw a broken boy. 

Draco was still for a few seconds. 

“Potter, get off of me!” He said loudly, trying to push Harry off of him. But Harry didn’t budge. “Potter.” His voice was cracked this time. It was broken. It wasn’t said with disgust, but more with pain, and with a need for someone to finally listen to him. And that wasn’t the strangest part.

The strangest part was that Harry understood it. He understood what Draco really meant. 

“Draco. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” 

That was the first time someone had ever told Draco that things were going to get better. Hell, that was the first time someone had seen Draco in such a vulnerable state.

And suddenly, Draco was in Harry’s tight embrace, burying his face into his shoulder, more tears falling down his face, incoherently mumbling, hugging Harry back. 

Neither of them knew how they ended up that way, but they sank down to the floor, Draco still crying, and Harry hugging him, never letting go once.

*******

The next morning, Harry showed up late for breakfast. He had gone down to the Owlery to send a letter to Draco and ended up being late. 

“Harry, where  _ were _ you last night?” Hermione asked as he sat down. 

“Calm down, let him eat something, at least!” Ron said reasonably, patting Harry’s shoulder lightly. 

“You weren’t following Draco, were you?” Hermione asked, ignoring Ron. Harry choked on his bite of food, having to cough it all out, loudly too.

Almost everyone in the Hall turned to face Harry who was still choking. When Harry calmed down, he shook his head. 

“No. No of course not. I’m not stupid.” Harry said to Hermione. 

On the other side of the Hall, Draco slowly reached the Slytherin table. The owls came to deliver daily mail. Draco was surprised to see to see a brown owl reach him. Draco took the letter that was with the owl, to see what it was. 

_ Hey Malfoy, _

_ I’d like to talk. Say, in twenty minutes at the tree by the lake?  _

_ P.s. I really won’t tell anyone _

_ Potter  _   
Harry watched as Draco read the letter. Draco was confused. Why did Potter want to talk to him? He thought that by now, everyone would be laughing and making fun of him. But Potter didn’t tell anyone,  _ surprisingly _ . Draco glanced over to where Harry was, who was already looking at him. Then he slowly nodded and turned to his friends, Pansy and Blaise.    


“Draco? Did you just nod at Harry?” Pansy questioned. “Why?” 

“No, I didn’t. I glared at him, it was like a glare nod.” Draco lied. Pansy raised an eyebrow. Draco sighed. “Potter!” He shouted, causing everyone to stop their chattering. “You suck!” 

Harry rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Malfoy!” 

Draco then glared at him while nodding. “See? Glare-nod. It’s totally a thing. Been doing it at Potter for years now, that stupid Gryffindork.” 

Pansy then smiled. “You were with him last night, weren’t you.” 

“No! Not like that! Merlin, no! Please! I’m not gay. In fact, I think I might like Astoria Greengrass.” 

Pansy burst out laughing. Draco stared at her in utter disbelief. “Sorry, just the thought of you being with Astoria was too much for me to take.” Pansy said with a laugh. “Come on, you were with Harry last night, weren’t you?”

“I was, but not like that! No! I was in the bathroom and he found me and refused to leave. He was just being an annoying prat.” 

“The letter was from Harry, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes, but he just wants to talk, nothing else.” 

“I bet he’s going to ask you to be his boyfriend.” 

“Pansy, shut up! I’m not gay!” Draco shouted, making several people turn to look at him. He then smacked Pansy’s shoulder as he stood up and exited the Hall to meet Harry.

“Did Malfoy just shout that he’s not gay?” Ron asked, confused.

“Think so,” Harry said before standing up. “I’m off. I’m going for a walk.” 

“But you barely ate-” Hermione started, but Harry had already ran out of the Hall. 

Harry went up to the lake and saw Draco sitting directly under the tree, staring at the lake.

“Dr- er, Malfoy.” Harry greeted, sitting down beside him. 

“Potter,” Draco greeted back, turning to look at him. “Why did you ask me to come here?” 

“I… I had a few questions,” Harry stated. Draco didn’t respond to that. “Er… where’s your Mark?”   


Draco immediately put his left hand behind his back, turning to glare at Harry. “Is this why you came to the bathroom yesterday? Just to see if I’m a Death Eater or not?”

“I didn’t even know you were at the bathroom! But yes, I did think you’re a Death Eater.” Harry said. Draco stood up and turned to leave. “Malfoy! No, don’t leave, please.”

“What do you want me to say, Potter?” Draco spat, turning around to face Harry. He rolled him his left sleeve, revealing his Dark Mark. “There. Here it is. What do you want me to do? Stop doing whatever he’s making me do?” 

“Malfoy-”

“Honestly, you think you’re so great, oh, Potter, the Chosen One. The rest of us have to deal with this.” Draco looked down at his Mark. 

“You don’t want to be a Death Eater?” Harry asked slowly. Draco flinched at the term. 

“Of course I don’t!” Draco cried, pulling his sleeve down. “He said he would kill us if I didn’t listen to him. Do you think I have a choice, Potter?” 

“Malfoy-” 

“Harry!” Hermione called from behind them.

“Shove off, Malfoy!” Ron spat at him. Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him away from Draco. 

“Hermione, stop-”

“Harry, seriously, just leave Malfoy alone! He’s not worth it.” Hermione cut him off. 

“Hermione-” 

“Honestly, he really isn’t! Come on, let’s get out of here.” Ron cut him off. They dragged Harry away. Harry turned to see Malfoy still staring at him. 

“Later!” Harry called out to Draco when Hermione and Ron weren’t listening.

*******

Draco sat in the Slytherin Common Room, staring into space. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Harry was about to say before his stupid friends got in the way. 

“Draco, how did your talk with Harry go?” Pansy teased, coming and sitting beside Draco. 

“Horrible. I thought maybe he wanted to be nice, but no. He just wanted to know if I was a… if I had the Dark Mark or not.” 

“What did you tell him?” Pansy asked. Draco didn’t exactly tell anyone, but his friends sort of just figured out that he had the Dark Mark. 

“He kind of already knew. Just wanted proof, I guess.” Draco folded his arms, turning away from Pansy. “So, no, Pansy, he didn’t ask me to be his ‘boyfriend’, before you ask and come up with some idiotic theory about him liking me.” 

“You sound disappointed that he didn’t,” Pansy said with a smirk. “And who knows? Maybe he will soon.” 

“Shut up Pansy, it’s obvious he just wanted proof. Besides, I don’t care. I’m straight. And Potter sucks. He’s annoying and stupid. And he’s probably snogging that Weasel girl as we speak.” 

“You still sound disappointed.” Pansy sang. Draco smacked her shoulder before they got up to go to dinner. “You know, you and Harry would really make a good couple.” 

“Pansy! Shut up before I hex you!” 

******

Harry approached Hermione in the Gryffindor Common Room. He was still annoyed with them, but he decided to sit with them anyways. He pulled out the Half-blood prince’s textbook and started looking through it. Hermione was reading and Ron was on the other side of the Common Room, making out with Lavender. 

Hermione watched him do so, as Harry didn’t even acknowledge them. 

“Harry,” Hermione said after a few minutes.

“Mhm.” Harry was busy reading and honestly, he didn’t want to talk to them at that moment. 

“Harry,” Hermione said again. 

“Mhm.” 

“Harry!” Hermione said, using her book to hit Harry with it.

“What?” Harry snapped, annoyed. “I’m trying to study?” Harry gestured to the book in his hands. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

“Well? Where did you go after you almost beat up Malfoy?”

“I wasn’t going to beat him-”

“Honestly, you’re obsessed! He is not a Death Eater, no matter how much you hate him, you can’t accuse him of something like that!” 

“But-”

“But what? Did you get proof? Did you see the Dark Mark on him?” Hermione asked Harry. “You know I’ll believe you if you  _ did _ actually see it, Harry.” 

Harry opened his mouth to speak, to say yes, to prove his friends wrong, that he was right about Malfoy all along. 

But all he could remember was the pain in Draco’s eyes when he found him in the bathroom, how when he showed Harry his Dark Mark, he was almost in tears just looking at it. 

“No, I didn’t.” Harry finally said. 

“Then you must let it go. Come on, let’s go for dinner.” Hermione stood up and grabbed Harry’s hand, pulling him out of the Common Room. 

“Wait, what about Ron-”

“ _ Won-Won _ can come with his little girlfriend. Now, come  _ on _ .” 

Harry and Hermione reached the entrance of the Hall and stopped there when Harry and Draco made direct eye contact for a few moments. Draco was still far away and he was approaching the entrance of the Hall. Harry debated on saying something. He then opened his mouth to call out to Draco. 

“Hey...” Ginny appeared out of nowhere. She had been crying. Hermione walked over to her and asked her what was wrong. “Dean and I had a fight.” Ginny glanced over to look at Harry to see his reaction, but he was busy watching Draco.

Draco slowed down when he finally reached the entrance too. The doors were closed. Hermione and Ginny walked about to talk about her fight with

Dean. Pansy quickly slipped into the Hall without a backwards glance. Harry stood in front of the entrance without thinking. 

“Potter, if you aren’t going to go inside, at least let me get through, will you?” Draco said, annoyed. 

“Draco, we didn’t get a chance to-”

“What, so you can question me further? Why do you even care, Potter? Just go hang out with your stupid friends. This doesn’t associate you.” Draco tried walking past Harry, but Harry slammed his hand against Draco’s chest, pushing him backwards. 

“Let me speak for once, will you?” Harry snapped. He took a breath and he frowned, pushing his glasses into place. His eyes moved to Draco’s left arm. “You don’t want to be one, do you?”

Draco didn’t say anything for a few moments. He gulped down what felt like a lump in his throat, but the lump didn’t go away after. A dark feeling dawned in his chest and he shook his head.

“I want to help you.” Harry said slowly. 

“Why?” Draco almost whispered. 

“You’re not the enemy.”

  
  
  
  


  
  


 


	4. Chapter 4

 

“Really, Potter? Here again?” Draco asked as they made their way by the lake and sat down under the tree. “It’s freezing.”

“I happen to like this spot, Malfoy. Besides, this is the only time it’s quite empty around here. Throughout the rest of the year, it’s just chaotic. Impossible to find a place to breathe.” Harry said, adjusting his scarf. 

It was three days later, the fifth day of their winter break. Harry fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater. 

“So? What did you make me skip my breakfast for?” Draco asked, annoyed. 

“Well, we’re sort of friends now. So, what do friends do?” Harry asked eagerly with a smile. 

“Let each other eat their damned breakfast, maybe?” 

Harry smacked Draco’s forehead. “They  _ talk  _ to each other,” Harry explained as if Draco didn’t understand the concept of friendship. 

“Oh, so you can’t talk to me _ while  _ eating breakfast?” 

Harry snorted. “Yeah, let me just openly sit beside someone who has practically been my enemy for the past six years, that certainly won’t spring up questions for everyone, especially Ron and Hermione.” 

“...Alright, you do have a point.”

They sat in a silence for a few minutes before Harry slowly tried to bring up the subject.

“So… has Voldemort made you do anything crazy?” 

Draco shuddered at the mention of his name.

“Oh, sorry,” Harry muttered, biting his lip. 

“It’s fine,” Draco mumbled quietly. “...nothing big, I suppose.” Draco lied. 

“...alright.” 

“I just wish I didn’t have to see it every time I rolled up my sleeves.” 

Draco pulled up his sleeve to show him his Mark. Harry saw several scratches over the Mark. 

“Draco, really?” Harry said as he moved closer to Draco and traced his fingers over the scratches. “That won’t make it go away.” 

“I know.” Draco snapped, pulling his arm away from Harry’s touch. Though Harry’s hands were cold, Draco felt a burning sensation as he traced the scratches on his skin. It was probably just the Mark. “I wish it wasn’t there.” 

Suddenly, an idea popped into Harry’s head. “Wait here.” Harry stood up and ran all the way into the castle. 

Ten minutes later, Harry came running back, his face slightly red from running. He sat down and caught his breath before showing Draco what he went to get. Harry had come down with a small pouch. He saw two weird bottles with liquids that Harry took out of it. 

“The hell is that?” Draco asked, a confused expression on his face.

“Make-up,” Harry said, which caused Draco’s expression go to even more confusion. 

“What?” 

“You know, females use it. Well, males do too, but it’s usually females.” Harry explained. “It’s really popular in the Muggle-world. Alright, give me your arm.” 

Draco rolled up his sleeves and pulled up his sleeve. “What are you going to do?” 

“Just wait.” Harry took out concealer and started dabbing over it with a makeup sponge. After about five minutes, Draco’s Dark Mark had vanished.

“Thanks,” Draco mumbled, looking at his arm. 

“It’s going to show again after a while. Also, the concealer and foundation don’t quite match your skin tone. That’s probably because you’re literally as pale as Hedwig.” Harry teased. Draco shot him a glare and stood up. Harry knew what was coming, so he stood up before Draco and broke into a run, Draco chasing after him. 

“Potter, get back here!” Draco shouted as Harry started climbing up the tree they were just at, going a bit too high. “You leave me no choice.” Draco started to climb up the tree. As a panicked instinct, Harry jumped off the tree face first. 

Draco immediately got down as he watched Harry fall off. 

“Potter, you’re so stupid that sometimes I wonder if you even have a brain in there,” Draco said as he helped up Harry, seeing his bloody face. His nose was bleeding and he had hurt his right leg really badly. 

“Harry,” Harry said softly as he tried walked but failed. “Call me Harry.” 

“Is that what you’re worried about right now?” Draco asked with a scoff. “Come on, let’s get you to the hospital wing.” Draco kneeled down, his back to Harry. 

“The hell are you doing?” Harry asked, confused. 

“Get on my back, you literal brain dead idiot,” Draco told him, annoyed. Harry stared at him for a few seconds. 

“Oh, you’re being serious.” 

“Of course I am, you literally can’t walk,” Draco said. “Now, get on before I walk out of here and make you go there all by yourself.” 

Harry then got on his back, hesitantly. 

“I’m getting your sweater all bloody.” He commented. 

“Disgusting,” Draco replied, though he said it with no venom, and no disgust in his voice . His entire back was burning, Harry had his arms around Draco’s neck and was so close to him. Draco could feel his breath on his neck. He felt Harry’s glasses dig into his sweater as Harry absentmindedly rested his head on his shoulder. Harry felt very aware of how close he was to Draco.

They slowly made their way to the Hospital Wing. Harry slowly got off. 

“Do you need me to come inside?” Draco asked. Harry shook his head.

“Don’t want Madam Pomfrey to ask questions,” Harry stated. “Thanks, though you do realize if you would have just accepted my great joke, this wouldn’t have happened, right?”

“Joke? You were insulting me! I’m not even that pale!” Draco protested. Harry rolled his eyes. “Thanks for… the make-down thing.” 

“It’s make- _ up _ . And could you get that pouch to me later? I left it back at the lake. It’s Hermione’s.” 

“...Fine. See you later, Harry.” 

With that, Harry entered the Hospital Wing to be attended to. 

******

“I still don’t understand how you randomly just decided to climb up a tree,” Hermione said with an eye roll. 

“I’m fine, really. Madam Pomfrey just wants me to stay here overnight because my nose is still quite sore and bleeds every now and then.”

“No, I understand that, Harry. Just… why did you decide to climb up a tree? Were you spying on Malfoy?” Hermione pestered. “Come on, Harry. Just let the whole thing go.” 

“I have! Can’t you just let me be?” Harry snapped. “Honestly. Even if I was - which I wasn’t - why do you even care? Stop going on about it. Even though I believed he was a Death Eater, why are you getting mad over it? I was wrong, weren’t I? He’s not a Death Eater. I’ve let it go. Can’t you too? Jeez. Put the whole Malfoy thing to a rest, will you?” 

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds. Then, she simply got up and left. Harry tried calling out to her, but it was no use. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 

Madam Pomfrey did one last check before leaving the room. Harry laid there in silence, turning on the lamp beside him when he was sure Madam Pomfrey was gone for the rest of the night. 

Suddenly, the door opened and someone entered. Harry couldn’t see who it was because there were curtains around him. 

“You didn’t tell her,” A voice said quietly. Draco slipped past the curtains and stared at Harry. “You had a clear chance to tell her about me.” 

“Who, Hermione?” Harry asked. “Of course I didn’t. She and Ron would make a huge fuss about it. I don’t want that. And I know for sure you don’t want that.”

Draco sat down on the chair where Hermione was sitting before she left. “Why were you so harsh towards her?”

“Because she wouldn’t stop about it. At first, it was ‘oh, stop thinking Draco’s a…’” Harry paused and refrained from saying the term. “Now she’s saying how I should leave you alone. I told her I did. Honestly, she and Ron have just been getting on my nerves lately.” 

Draco didn’t say anything to that. He placed the makeup pouch on the table beside Harry’s bed. 

“Why are you here?” Harry asked as Draco remained in his seat, staring at him.

“Well, I originally came to just drop off the pouch but then I overheard your conversation with Hermione and now I…” Draco trailed off into silence. “I feel grateful towards you. Damn you, Harry.” 

“For what, being nice?” Harry asked with a scoff.

“Yes. We’re supposed to be enemies, and look at you being Saint Potter.” 

“Draco, you’re not the enemy. You’re not my enemy.”  

Draco felt his insides lurch, and he felt his chest lift. He suddenly felt really hot. 

“You’re being ridiculous…”

“You know it’s true. We both were never meant to be enemies.” 

“Then what were we meant to be?” Draco asked without thinking.

And then, Harry’s insides lurched. He felt his chest lift and suddenly felt really hot. 

Suddenly, they heard the doorknob twist.

“Quick! Under the bed!” Harry whisper-shouted to Draco and he did so. Hermione slowly emerged from behind the curtains.

“Harry, I just came to apologize. You were probably annoyed with me pestering you about Malfoy.” She sat down on the chair. 

“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.” Harry apologized. 

“So you’re not obsessing over Malfoy anymore?” Hermione asked. Harry internally cringed. He knew Draco was listening, which made him more embarrassed. 

“I was never obsessing! I was merely just watching over him. Studying his behavior.” 

“Sounds like obsessing to me.” Hermione teased, chuckling a bit. “Anyways, we can move past this now. Malfoy’s not a Death Eater, that’s good.” 

Harry nodded. “Yes, I think I’ll focus more on Dumbledore’s lessons now.”

“That’s good. Alright, goodnight Harry. I’ll leave you to it. Please recover as soon as possible.  _ Lavender _ and Won-Won have been driving me utterly crazy.” Harry chuckled at that.

“Goodnight, Hermione.” 

And with that, Hermione left the Hospital Wing. 

Draco got out of under the bed and burst out laughing. “Harry! You’ve been obsessing over me!” Draco said through laughter. Harry shot out his hand and smacked Draco on his shoulder, glaring. 

“I was only curious of what you were up to! I knew you had changed when I saw you on the train. I had to see.” Harry explained without thinking. Their eyes locked for a few moments before Draco cleared his throat.

“Well, I’ll go. Pansy’s probably looking for me.”

“Yeah…” 

Draco turned to leave, but somehow, he found himself holding on to a shred of hope that Harry would call out to him. 

And he did.

“Draco! Er… I know this a lot to ask, but do you mind if you stay until I fall asleep?” 

Draco turned to face Harry. 

Both of their insides lurched again. 

Draco slowly nodded. “Sure…” Draco sat down, his eyes not glancing away from Harry for even a second. 

“It’s just… after Sirius died…” Harry trailed off into silence. “No, nevermind.”

“You find it hard to sleep?” Draco asked quietly, his silver eyes glinting with an emotion that Harry couldn’t decipher. Harry studied Draco’s white hair before slowly nodding.

“And nightmares too…” Harry said, though quietly. Draco simply nodded. 

Harry pushed the covers up to him and laid on his back, closing his eyes. 

Draco didn’t do anything but watch him. He studied Harry’s long eyelashes, his pink lips, and his injured nose. He saw very light freckles on the bridge of his nose, and he watched as Harry breathed in and out.

And as he did so, the whole time his insides were lurching. His heart was leaping. His mind was roaming with thoughts of Harry. He was just so confused. Just four days ago they were enemies and now they were suddenly friends. 

Draco had never felt such a sudden change for someone. 

No, rather - Draco had never discovered these hidden feelings about someone. Especially Harry. 

How did Draco never realize that this whole time, he was longing for Harry to be his friend? For him to smile and laugh at his jokes. How did not realize that at the beginning of almost every year when he didn’t see Harry at the Feast, he wasn’t happy, but more so worried?

How did he never realize that he actually cared for someone this deeply?

And that’s when it all came crashing down. Draco pushed all of these thoughts away. He stood up and left the Hospital Wing. His mind was just playing with him. There was no way in hell he was actually friends with Harry and no way he actually cared for him all these years. 

He was just joking, of course. 

Draco walked to his dorm and decided that it was best he just remained enemies with Harry. 

  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  


 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Harry woke the next morning feeling fresh. He got ready and went for breakfast. 

Draco, however, woke up feeling sour. He took as long as possible in the shower to skip breakfast just so he could avoid Harry. He didn’t even want to look at him. Of course, there were just feelings of hatred. No way Draco actually wanted to him to be his friend - maybe even more. 

“I’m not gay!” Draco shouted to himself as he exited his dorm. Pansy burst out laughing behind him.

“Okay, Draco, as long as you believe it, I believe you.” She said with a laugh. “So how are things going with your boyfr-”

“Shut up, Pansy. He is not my boyfriend. He never will be. He isn’t even my friend. I’ve decided I want him to just be my enemy. I will insult him for the rest of the day just to make it clear.” 

“Draco, honey, that’s really not how it works. You don’t get to choose what you want.” Pansy told him as they made their way down the halls to get to breakfast. 

“The hell are you talking about, Pansy? Of course I can decide whether or not I want to be friends with Har- Potter or not.” Draco shot a glare at Pansy. 

“Oh dear, I guess it’s better for you to see and understand for yourself,” Pansy said with a long sigh as they walked into the Hall. Harry was seated at the Gryffindor table and was sitting beside Ron and Hermione. He turned to see Draco and slightly smiled at him. In return, Draco shot a demeaning glare at him before sitting down beside Pansy. “Come on, Draco. You’re being ridiculous.”

“No, I really am not. He’s stupid and disgusting. I can’t believe I even hung out with him these past few days.” 

Of course, Draco was in denial. 

“Draco, you’re being stu-”

“Forget it, Pansy.” Draco stood up and exited the Hall in a rush. Harry watched him leave. He then turned to Hermione and Ron who were arguing again. 

“Will you guys give it a break?” Harry snapped at them before rolling his eyes. “You guys are literally always fighting. Can we all just hang out without you guys hating each other for once?” 

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. 

“The thing is, Harry, you don’t even hang out with us much anymore. The past few weeks you would ditch us to see what Malfoy’s up to, and now you just seem distant.” Hermione admitted. Harry blinked and turned to face Ron, who was nodding along to what Hermione was saying.

“I… had no idea, I’m sorry,” Harry said with a sigh. “But I’m over the Malfoy thing now, and we’re hanging out now, aren’t we? And all you two are doing is arguing.” 

Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes at him and Harry sighed. “And you don’t even hang out with us properly.” Ron shot back. 

“Well, why would I hang out with you two if I have to deal with you arguing all the damn time? What do I even do? Enjoy the show?” Harry slammed his hand on the table. 

“Oh, I dunno, maybe try to make us stop arguing?” Ron snapped. 

“Or maybe tell them to grow up and be the peacemaker?” Ginny piped in. Harry scoffed at her suggestion. 

“Are you guys that immature? That you want me to ‘supervise’ your arguments? I have better things to do!” Harry practically yelled. He stood up and stormed out of the Hall.

He wondered where Draco went. He decided to go to the lake, maybe Draco was there?

Sure enough, there Draco sat, watching Harry as he approached him. “Go away, Potter.” 

“What?” Harry asked, confused. 

“You heard me. Get the hell away from me.” Draco said and shot a glare at him. Harry stared at him for a few seconds. 

“Okay, you’re just joking, aren’t you?” Harry said with a shaky laugh as he approached. 

Draco immediately stood up and pushed him backward. “I said, get the hell away from me!” 

“Draco! What is up with you?!” Harry snapped. “Come on, I already fought with-” 

Draco punched him in the face, right in his nose. Draco instantly was flooded with regret and guilt, but he was too far in. He glared at Harry. 

Footsteps slowly approached them. 

“Brilliant, another fight between you two. Potter, Malfoy, forty points from Gryffindor and twenty points from Slytherin.” Snape said as he approached them, looking more annoyed than ever. 

“But I didn’t even-” Harry started, but was cut off by Snape.

“Twenty more points from Gryffindor for talking back to a professor.” Snape then walked off. 

Harry had just about had it. His friends were annoyed with him, Draco was being a jerk even though they agreed to be friends, he had to deal with Voldemort’s past, and it was just too much. 

And suddenly Harry burst into tears. 

Draco felt absolutely horrible. He didn’t know what to do. He frowned, staring at Harry.

“H-” 

But before he could say anything, Harry broke into a run and into the castle. Draco didn’t feel good at all. In fact, his insides were lurching even more. 

He felt absolutely disgusting. Harry had been so nice to him, and this is how he was repaying him? He didn’t feel strong and cool, he felt absolutely pathetic. 

*******

Draco had to get out of there. He could barely even walk. He didn’t know what to do.

His Dark Mark was practically eating him alive. 

He cried out in pain, slumped against the walls of the bathroom. But who would even hear him? It was way into the hours of the night. His whole body was sweaty, he felt like he was being burnt alive. His Mark was thundering with unexplainable pain. 

Harry couldn't sleep. He was walking around under his Invisibility Cloak until he eventually went to the bathroom where he had seen Draco just days earlier. 

Harry heard someone cry out in pain. Immediately taking off his Cloak, he ran inside the bathroom to see Draco slumped against the wall, looking like he was dying. 

Harry’s insides lurched. And they lurched, and they lurched until a dark feeling dawned inside his chest.

Harry practically ran to Draco who was crying so hard, unable to breathe.

“What’s wrong, Malfoy?!” Harry asked in a panicked voice. Draco couldn’t speak. He slowly opened his eyes to see Harry there. Draco shook his head. “Don’t be stupid, you fucking prat! What’s wrong?” 

Draco shook his head again. He couldn’t breathe. 

Harry gently took his hand. “Draco, Draco, breathe, please.” Harry had to remain calm. It was absolutely clear that Draco was panicking more now that Harry was there panicking with him. 

After taking several short breaths, Draco finally caught air properly. His face was wet from sweat, his arm was still literally killing him. He cried out in pain again. He held onto Harry’s hand tightly. 

“It hurts, it hurts!” He managed to say before he was hit with even harsher pain this time. Harry turned to see Draco’s Dark Mark. His whole hand was completely red and Harry could feel the sweat in Draco’s hand.

“I’ll be right back, Draco, stay here okay?” 

“No! No, don’t go, don’t go.” More tears streamed down his face. 

“Draco, I have to. Here, hold on to my Cloak to dig your fingers into for the pain.” Harry handed him his cloak and took off, sneaking into the Hospital Wing.

Several minutes later, Harry returned with a jar. 

“Okay, it’s going to hurt before the pain goes away, okay?” Harry said. “Here, hold my hand.” Draco immediately took a hold of his hand with his right hand. Harry undid the lid of the jar and took the liquid sort of sticky substance and swiped it along his whole hand. After he was done, he let go of Draco’s hand to put the lid back on the jar. 

When he did so, Draco’s hand felt empty. As soon as Harry finished putting the lid on his jar, he took his hand and held onto it. He finally calmed, the pain was finally gone. He was able to breathe. His silver eyes glinted with tears still. 

“That should do it. It’ll numb your arm for a few hours.” Harry said, moving a little closer to him. Then Harry finally asked the question. “Draco, what was that?”

“A… punishment…” He managed to get out. He cleared his throat. “It was nothing.” 

“Nothing?! Draco, you almost died!”

“I should have.” He mumbled, looking away from Harry. Harry put up his hand and slapped Draco right in the face.

“No, you shouldn’t have. Who else will be my friend and then suddenly punch me?” Harry said with a slight smile. 

“I… I’m not your friend,” Draco said. “I punched you because I thought, that way, you wouldn’t be my friend anymore.”

“You don’t want to be my friend?” Harry asked, suddenly very disappointed. His insides lurched once again. He was tired of his heart practically doing somersaults inside his body. 

Draco felt the exact same feeling in his chest too.

“I did, then I didn’t, and then after I punched you, I wanted to be your friend again,” Draco said with a slight smile. “I just kept thinking, ‘Potter! Potter! Idiotic Potter, he sucks! I don’t like him.’ Then… I thought ‘well he’s not so bad’. Then I thought you sucked again, then-”

Harry suddenly felt the need to do it. He had to. He couldn’t stop himself. He let go of Draco’s hand and grabbed his face, pulling him closer to him. 

And suddenly their lips locked,  almost as if they were dying to meet. 

Draco pushed Harry backwards with all of his force. “The fuck, Harry?” 

“I just… I just…” Harry stuttered. Draco stared into his eyes for a solid minute, his silver eyes glistening. 

And then he smashed their lips together once again.

And it just felt so right. It felt so good. It felt so perfect. It felt as if there were fireworks around them. 

Their lips tingling, Harry hadn’t even noticed that he closed his eyes during the whole process. Draco too. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck, and Draco hauled him onto his lap as they continued to kiss. 

Harry was just about to add his tongue into the kiss, but suddenly, he heard footsteps.

Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak after pulling away from Draco, but there was no time to cover Draco. 

“Go!” Draco whisper-shouted, grabbing the Cloak from his hands and throwing it over Harry. Harry quickly handed him the jar for Draco to keep, in case his Mark hurt again. 

And then Harry quickly exited the bathroom, to see Snape entering it and starting to talk to Draco. 

******

Harry woke the next morning extremely clumsily. He fell off his bed and knocked everything on his bedside table off in the process. 

Ron immediately walked over to him. “Mate, you okay?” He asked hesitantly. 

Harry immediately stood up, smiling. “Mate? Are we friends again?” He asked eagerly. Ron rolled his eyes. 

“You just fell face first off your bed and broke your glasses, but you’re worried whether or not I’m your friend?” Ron questioned. Harry nodded eagerly. He was oddly in a strange mood. “Alright, yes. I’m sorry for being so childish.”

“Me too.” They high fived and everything was good between them. They quickly got ready and went down to breakfast. 

“Hey, Harry, where were you last night?” Ron asked. “I wanted to come and apologize to you, so did Hermione, but you were nowhere to be found.” 

And everything came flooding back to Harry. Last night’s events came rushing back to him and Harry almost fell over when he remembered he had a kissing session with Draco Malfoy the previous night. 

His face immediately turned a deep shade of red and he entered the Hall utterly embarrassed. 

“Harry? What happened last night?”

“NOTHING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT, SHUT UP, I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.” Harry screamed. 

Draco turned to see Harry. They both locked eyes for a second before they both immediately looked away, Harry running to the Gryffindor table and Ron chasing after him to figure out what happened. 

Pansy, beside Draco, elbowed him in the ribs. “So what did you and Harry do last night?” Pansy asked him, smirking. 

Draco’s face started to turn red. “Nothing. Nothing, I wasn’t even with him…” Draco lied, but it was so obvious he was lying. Pansy burst into laughter. 

“You kissed!” Pansy joked. 

“NO, WE DID NOT! I DID NOT KISS ANYONE.” Draco screeched, his voice going all high pitched. 

Harry buried his face in his hands. “No!” He said, but it was muffled due to his face being hidden by his hands. He grabbed a piece of toast and munched it down, trying to eat and finish off breakfast as quickly as possible. 

“Harry? Why are you acting so strange?” Hermione asked. “Did something happen?” 

“No! No, nothing happened.” 

And Draco and Harry avoided each other for the rest of the break.

  
  
  


  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit of a long chapter. 
> 
> I also haven't proofread most of this so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes lol

Classes were starting again, and the first lesson they had on Monday morning was Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Harry and Draco had to sit beside each other.

Harry entered the classroom one minute late, slowly and sneakily sitting beside Ron, hoping Snape wouldn’t notice.

But that’s not how Harry’s luck works.

“Mr. Potter, you don’t take me for a fool, do you?” Snape asked icily. “Please come to the front of the class to sit beside Malfoy.”

“Oh no,” Harry said under his breath, slowly picking up his stuff and going to sit beside Draco. He didn’t dare look at Draco, what if he was mad at him? He didn’t want to see Draco glaring at him.

Harry didn’t even pay attention as the class started, he was too self-conscious of the fact that Draco was right there beside him. After twenty minutes or so into the lesson, Harry felt a hand touch his thigh from under the table.

Harry slowly looked down and saw Draco’s pale hand with a piece of paper. Harry looked up at Draco, but Draco wasn’t looking at him. He was pretending to take notes. Harry slowly reached down at took the note, propping up his textbook so he could read it properly. Harry hesitantly and shakily unfolded it.

_Potions cupboard during lunch?_

Harry looked at Draco who was still not looking at him.

Harry quickly scribbled out a reply. Then he put the note on Draco’s notebook, gently so Snape wouldn’t see.

Draco picked up the piece of paper to see what Harry replied with.

_Really? If you’re up for it, then yes._

Draco turned to Harry, handing the note back under the table.

 _Alright, see you then_.

Harry smiled and pocketed the note, suddenly finding himself desperately waiting (and feeling quite nervous) for lunch.

*******

Harry wolfed down his lunch.

“Whoa, Harry, slow down, you’re going to choke,” Hermione said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Harry took a big sip of water before standing up, “I’m going to go, bye!”

He immediately stood up and left the Hall, Draco following a few minutes later. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances when Harry practically ran out of the Hall.

“He probably has a secret girlfriend,” Ron said jokingly, but Hermione turned and nodded.

“I think he does. The night he was in the Hospital Wing, Harry and I fought, so I went back to apologize, and I heard him talking to someone. Now, I didn’t hear her voice, but I’m pretty sure she hid under the bed.” Hermione stated, turning to face Ron. “Who do you think could it be?”

Hermione and Ron looked around the room and saw no one missing.

“Hey, Malfoy isn’t here.” Ron pointed out. Hermione and Ron stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

“Good one, Ron!”

Meanwhile, Harry slowly made his way to the Potion’s closet. As he got inside, he turned on the light and tried to shut the door behind him, but someone was there. Harry immediately turned, hoping and praying it wasn’t a Professor.

Draco ran a hand through his blond hair. “Move, will you? I’m trying to get inside.” He told Harry, before pushing him into the closet and fully shutting the door.

Harry’s green eyes met Draco’s silver ones.

“Are we going to talk?” Harry finally spoke, hesitantly and awkwardly.

“Sure, if you want to,” Draco said with a shrug. “Hi, how are you? Today class was super bori-”

“Prat.” Harry cut him off, rolling his eyes as Draco smirked. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t, what do you mean?” Draco said, leaning against the door of the closet.

“Stop stalling,” Harry said with an eye roll. “We should talk about it.”

“I’d prefer not to,” Draco said, grabbing Harry by his vest and pulling him closer.

Harry’s heart plummeted down to his stomach. Was kissing Draco a deep mistake?

“I would prefer to, you know,” Draco pushed his lips against Harry’s, “just do it again.”

It was like fireworks. Harry felt Draco put his arms around his waist. This time, when their lips met, it was as if they were greeting each other again, the kisses being soft but quickly turning to rough, with deep lust and a need for more.

Much more.

After a few moments, the two pulled apart, breathless but grinning.

“So, what now?” Harry asked, panting.

Draco simply smiled.

*******

Harry slowly made his way down the hallway before dinner. He hadn’t seen Draco since their meeting in the Potions closet many hours ago, and now he wanted to see him again.

He slowly entered the Hall to see that Draco wasn’t there. He frowned but didn’t let it bother him. He made his way to Ron and Hermione who weren’t arguing for once. He sat down and started eating.

“Hey Harry,” Ginny greeted him loudly from beside Hermione.

“Oh, hi.” Harry greeted back, only half paying attention to her.

What if Draco was in trouble?

“Dean and I got into another fight,” Ginny said.

What if Draco was dying?

“That’s sad,” Harry said absentmindedly.

“Do you think I should break up with him?” Ginny asked, wide-eyed.

No, Draco was fine. He had to be.

“That’s great,” Harry said to Ginny. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. “Oh, er… I mean… if you’re unhappy then sure.” Harry nudged Hermione, implying that he didn’t know how to give her advice. Hermione rolled her eyes and started whispering to Ginny, trying to give her advice.

“Not cool, mate,” Ron said as he watched Harry eat.

“What?” Harry asked, confused.

“Ginny’s really hurt right now.”

“So she should maybe ask you for advice?” Harry asked reasonably. “I can’t give advice for my life! Especially dating advice!” 

“You think I can?” Ron whined. “I can’t get rid of Lavender and this whole thing with Hermione… it’s just all a mess!”

“Just break up with Lavender!” Harry said matter-of-factly.

“I’ve tried!” Ron whined again. “I’ve tried everything!”

“Will you Gryffindorks stop being so loud?” Someone called from the Slytherin table. Harry turned to see Draco who had just arrived, glaring at them. However, his glare softened when Harry turned to look at him.

“Oh, shut up, Malfoy.” Harry snapped at him, but the Slytherin and Gryffindor shared a look in their eyes that knew they didn’t mean what they were saying at all.

“I still don’t know what to do, Harry.” Ron whined after Harry and Draco stopped glaring at each other.

“Ask Dean! Or Seamus! Literally anyone has more dating experience than me!”

“You’re no help!”

“Is what I’ve been saying for the past ten minutes!”

Harry and Ron burst into laughter. Harry had missed this; he had been so wrapped up in obsessing with Draco being a Death Eater, and Ron had been so busy with Lavender and arguing with Hermione that they had not spent proper time together.

Harry finished off his dinner and stood up while catching Draco’s eye. He got up and slowly left for the Owlery.

He quickly wrote down a note for Draco to meet him in front of the Slytherin Common Room.

He quickly attached it to a school owl (which offended Hedwig deeply) and it speedily went to the Hall. Not even five minutes later, the owl came back with a quick response:

_Fine, you prat._

Harry smiled and left to go to the Slytherin Common Room (well in front of it).

There was a sort of party going on today since it was a Professor’s birthday, so that’s where everyone was going to be for the rest of the night.

“Harry! The hell are you doing without your Invisibility Cloak? If someone saw you-”

“But no one saw me.” Harry said with a grin, receiving a smack on the shoulder from Draco. “Ouch! Besides, I _did_ use my Invisibility Cloak.” Harry patted his bag which had his Cloak inside it.

They slowly made their way inside the Slytherin Common Room and to Draco’s dorm.

“Why do you want to meet me here?” Draco asked as Harry looked around his dorm. It screamed Slytherin; everything was either green or black.

“Is this your bed?” Harry asked, pointing to one of the beds that was by the bathroom. Draco nodded. “So you can hog the bathroom first, I reckon.” Harry teased and sat down. He saw the jar that Harry had given him that day in the bathroom almost empty. “Draco, how many times have you used this?” He asked, picking up the jar and looking at it.

“Once a day. Daily.”

“Draco! That’s horrible! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The last time I checked, you weren’t even supposed to know about my Dark Mark.” Draco pointed out. “Besides, there’s nothing else to do. It just keeps on burning.”

“Why?”

“Missed a deadline.” Draco slipped out. Harry’s head snapped in his direction. “He asked me to do something before the Winter Holidays, but I didn’t do it.”

Realization hit Harry.

“You cursed Katie Bell…”

“That was not the plan. The plan was to do something else, but it ended up backfiring.” Draco said, walking to Harry. “I don’t want to do any of this. You know that.”

Harry slowly nodded. “Yeah. Yes, I understand…” Draco let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.” Draco sat down beside Harry, taking his hands slowly and holding them tightly. “You know I don’t want to do this.”

“Yes, I know. But Draco, why is it still hurting? Is it hurting right now?”

“Not as much.”

“When was the last time you used the medicine?” Harry asked, eyeing the jar. Draco sighed.

“Yesterday, I guess.”

“Draco, tell me when it hurts badly. I’ll be there.”

“Pfft…” Draco scoffed softly. “Don’t bother.” Draco received a slap from Harry.

“I’m being serious.” Harry told him. He then cupped Draco’s face with his hands, biting his lip.

“I’m fine.”

“I’m not worried,” Harry lied. Draco rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“You know, you’re a really bad liar,” Draco said, lying down on his bed, Harry still at the foot of it.

“Shut up, you’re worse than me, you know. ‘No we did not! I did not kiss anyone!’” Harry imitated Draco, laughing. Draco glared at him.

“Oh, look who’s talking. ‘NOTHING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT, SHUT UP, I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.’” Draco imitated Harry right back, sitting up and rolling his eyes.

“Let’s face it, we only _just_ got our friends to believe us,” Harry said with a sigh. “If Ron or Hermione had interrogated me further, I probably would have blurted it out right there and then.”

“So you’re a bad liar _and_ can’t keep secrets,” Draco said, folding his arms and smirking with amusement.

“Right back at you!” Harry retorted.

“Not really,” Draco said with a shrug. “I’m a Malfoy. We’re pretty much born to lie and keep secrets to get what we want.”

“You lied and kept secrets about me,” Harry said without thinking. “Wait, was that supposed to be a pickup line?”

“Maybe,” Draco said slyly with a wink.

“That was a good pickup line,” Harry muttered.

“What?”

“I said that was a trash pick up line.” Harry covered up, embarrassed. Draco smirked.

“I heard what you said. Just wanted to see how you would lie about it.” Draco replied, running a hand through his hair, which wasn’t gelled up for once. Harry rolled his eyes at what Draco said.

“I like it better like this,” Harry said, reaching out and running his hands through Draco’s hair. “It’s not nice when it’s gelled up. It looks better when it’s like this.”

“Okay,” Draco was too busy staring into Harry’s green eyes, feeling his warm hands against his skin.

“Are you even listening?” Harry asked with an eye roll.

“A bit,” Draco said with a grin. “Do you want to go to the lake?”

“Now?” Harry asked.

Draco’s silver eyes stared into Harry’s green ones as they sat in silence for a few moments.

“Sure!” Harry quickly got up, fixing his sweater before turning to face Draco, who was taking his time getting out of his bed. Harry walked over to Draco and fixed his sweater and tie which had become messy.

“Too tight!” Draco yelped when Harry fixed up his tie.

“Sorry!” Harry readjusted Draco’s tie, looking up at Draco’s silver eyes. They didn’t have much of a height difference, but Harry was just a bit shorter than Draco. Harry softly placed his lips on Draco’s, kissing him gently. Draco was taken aback but immediately responded, kissing him back.

“What was that for?” Draco asked when Harry slowly pulled out of the kiss.

“Beautiful eyes,” Harry murmured, still in a daze. “You have beautiful eyes.”

“Shut up, you suck at compliments,” Draco said, but both of them knew that Draco secretly loved it. They walked out of the dorm - holding hands - and into the Slytherin Common Room, where Pansy was seated, reading a book. She looked up and saw Harry and smirked as if she was expecting Harry to be with Draco.

“Hey Draco,” Pansy said, setting her book down as she continued to smirk. Harry bit his lip, unsure of what to do. Her eyes immediately went to the Gryffindor and Slytherin’s intertwined hands.

“Pansy,” Draco groaned. Pansy quickly got up and walked to where they were. Harry slightly hid behind Draco.

“So, dating yet?”

“Pansy!”

“What? I’m just asking. Besides, I was talking to Harry. I know you’ll tell me absolutely nothing.” Pansy said reasonably. Harry stepped out from behind Draco.

“We’re…”

“Working on it,” Draco finished for Harry. “Don’t tell anyone Pansy, or I swear to Merlin I’ll murder your ass.”

“He’s too soft to do that, but yes, we’ll be pretty mad.” Harry told her. Pansy smirked, watching them leaving the Slytherin Common Room.

“Uh, hello? I am _not_ too soft. I can be really mean if I want to.”

“Draco, your idea of being mean is jumping down a tree and telling people how you bet on them with your father.”

“Oh, what do you know,” Draco spluttered. “Besides, that was only a way to get your attention.”

“You like my attention then,” Harry said with a refreshing sigh, smirking. “Nice to know.”

People were starting to show up in the hallways. So, before Draco could retort back, they were forced to throw on Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.

“I wonder where Harry ran off to,” The two heard Hermione say. “He keeps on disappearing.”

“Malfoy’s missing too,” Ron said. Draco and Harry stopped short when they heard Ron say that.

“Oh come on Ron, that joke’s old.”

“You don’t suppose he’s still trying to figure out what Malfoy’s up to?”

“He told me he dropped it… he seemed pretty firm about it too. He probably _does_ have a secret girlfriend.” Hermione replied. “We just have to figure out who…”

Harry and Draco kept in their laughter until they reached a corner where no one was.

“Draco, they think you’re a girl,” Harry said through laughter. “Which you are, I suppose.”

Draco hit him so hard that the Invisibility Cloak fell off of them.

“Prat,” Draco said with an eye roll. “Hey, it’s getting late and everyone’s heading to their dorms, and the Dementors and Filch will probably see us. Want to just sneak out and go for a walk on Saturday? It’ll be our first date, and I’ll bring some snacks..." Draco paused before getting embarrassed. "Unless you don’t want-”

“No! No, it’s perfect, Draco. That’ll be awesome.”

“See you then.”

********

Harry was practically giddy on Saturday morning. He happily got out of bed, got ready and went for breakfast.

Draco, on the other hand, was freaking out.

“Pansy! Pansy!!” Draco shouted throughout the whole Slytherin area, desperate to find her.

“Could you not wake up the whole of Hogwarts? Thanks.” Pansy said annoyedly as she approached him. “It’s seven in the morning! What are you so hyped up about?”

Draco looked down at his shoes, biting his lip. Pansy gasped excitedly.

“It’s your first date!” Pansy squealed.

“Shut _up_!” Draco hissed. “Come on Pansy, I need help. I have no idea what to wear. No idea what snacks to take. I told him I’d bring food.”

Pansy nodded. “Be right back.” She ran into Draco’s dorm and came back two minutes later with many clothes in her hands. “Let’s go to my dorm, everyone’s already left for breakfast.”

And so they went to Pansy’s dorm. “Alright, I’ll be asking you many questions to get information, answer as quickly as possible.” She made him sit down on her bed. “Take in a deep breath and-”

“Pansy! Just get on it with it.”

“Not with that attitude, I won’t.”

“Alright, alright! Sorry.”

“Okay, take in a deep breath, and close our eyes.”

Draco did.

“When did you become friends?”

“First week of the winter break.”

“When did you realize you had feelings for him?”

Draco snapped his eyes open.

“Merlin,” He breathed. “I have feelings for him! I have feeling for Harry James Potter, I… I…”

“You do, and it’s not a bad thing,” Pansy said, sensing his scared tone. “You have someone. He’ll be yours. He’ll accept you.”

“But what if _he_ kills him?” Draco asked in a broken voice. “I’ve been to the meetings. He’s so powerful. He’s… he’s made all these plans, Pansy, am I just getting into the wrong thing here? What if he dies? I’ll be all alone-”

“Calm down, Draco. Harry can handle him, you know that.”

“I just… Before our first official date, should I rethink this?”

“I don’t think you should be rethinking anything, Draco.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve watched you talk about Harry for the past six years. And although everyone thought you just hated him, I knew better. I’ve known you for a long time. The only time there’s a glint in your eyes is when you’re thinking, talking or around Harry.”

Draco stared at Pansy, shocked. “Really?”

Pansy laughed. “Yes. Now, here.” She handed Draco a simple sweater and black pants. “Keep it casual. After all, he probably doesn’t care what you look like.”

Draco scoffed at that but went to change anyways. He came out of the bathroom to see Pansy holding a basket.

“It’s got all sorts of things. Muggle things, though. One of my dorm mates is Muggle-born, I just took it from her.”

“Stole, Pansy. You stole from her.”

“Oh, whatever. She won’t mind.”

*******

Draco and Harry were supposed to meet at noon by the lake.

It was an hour till noon and Harry was getting really nervous now. He entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

“What’s got your wand in a knot?” Hermione asked as Harry sat down.

“How do you know?” Harry blurted, he couldn’t keep in his nervousness inside.

“Well, for one, you look like you’re going to vomit, and two, I can read you like an open book,” Hermione said, shutting her book and going to sit beside Harry. “What’s up?”

Harry looked around. Mostly everyone had gone to Hogsmeade, and the younger years were keeping to themselves in secluded parts of the common room.

“Where’s Ron?” Harry asked.

“On a date with Lavender, to break up with her,” Hermione said with an eye roll, to which Harry raised an eyebrow at. Hermione opened her book again. “Yes, I know. Absolutely rude and harsh. I told him that but he said I was being unreasonable and walked off. Anyways, what’s up?”

“Alright, you have to promise to not tell anyone,” Harry said tensely. Hermione nodded.

“Okay.”

_‘I have feelings for Draco.’_

Of course, he didn’t say that out loud. He could just imagine the shock on her face and the judgment coming from both her and Ron.

“I have a date with someone,” Harry said slowly, looking down and playing with the sleeves of his sweater. Hermione shut her book almost immediately.

“I thought you’d never tell us,” Hermione said, getting excited all of a sudden. “You know, Ron and I did suspect it. Sneaking off for walks, not coming for dinner, not coming to your dorm till late night? You have a secret girlfriend, don’t you?”

“I… yes, I have a date, but I’m not in a relationship with hi...her. It’s our first date.”

“So what were you doing these past few weeks?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just getting to know her,” Harry said honestly. “I didn’t know that I would ever go on a date with her. I never even dreamed of it.”

Lie. In fifth year, the night after he kissed Cho, he had dreamed that it was Draco who he was kissing. He played it off as a nightmare rather than a dream, and never told anyone about it, and pushed it to the back of his brain.

“That’s the best kind,” Hermione said excitedly. “I know it’ll seem weird at first, looking at someone in a romantic way when you never even dreamed of liking them that way. But, in the end it’s the best kind. Unexpected love.”

“Love?!” Harry exclaimed, receiving a few looks from fellow Gryffindors that were within hearing distance.

“Well, if not love, then feelings for them, at least.”

“Feelings…” Harry buried his face in his hands. He had feelings for Draco Malfoy.   
_Draco Lucius Malfoy_ . A Slytherin, pure-blood. His enemy, and now coincidentally his crush. 

“Oh Merlin, I have feelings for…” Harry didn’t finish his sentence which frustrated Hermione deeply; not knowing who his secret girlfriend was annoyed him. “Sorry, ‘Mione, I think it’s best if I keep her identity secret for a while.”

Hermione nodded slowly. “Why is it so hard to believe you have feelings for this girl?”

Because it’s 1, a boy, 2, freaking Draco Lucius Malfoy.

“I just… never expected to like her, I guess.” Harry said with a small shrug. “But enough of that. Will you help me out?”

“I don’t know how I can help you if I don’t know who you’re going on a date with, but sure.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

Harry slowly walked to the tree by the lake. It seemed like Draco wasn’t there yet. He awkwardly leaned against the tree. Hermione had picked out something for Harry to wear and although she wasn’t really that informed of what to wear during dates, Harry was grateful nonetheless.

He was wearing a sweater that Molly Weasley had made for him for the Christmas that just passed. 

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” Draco said as he approached Harry. Harry, who was busy daydreaming, hadn’t even notice Draco walk up to him. He suddenly felt extremely nervous. “But Pansy wouldn’t stop fussing over my clothes and wouldn’t stop until I had to practically run away from her.”

Harry chuckled a bit. “That’s fine.” 

“Alright, let’s get going before we attract any attention,” Draco said. He thought back to the tips Pansy was telling him. She had said to hold Harry’s hand at any point when he had nothing to say, that way it wouldn’t be awkward. 

Or something. Draco had been daydreaming about Harry when Pansy was telling him all these tips. 

They started walking in silence, Harry a bit behind Draco. 

“Why did we agree to go walking again?” Draco complained as they entered the forest, already feeling tired. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Draco, how about the fact that if we had a date literally anywhere else, Rita Skeeter would be writing an article about how either I have joined the Dark Side or how you have brainwashed me into loving you,” Harry replied and Draco rolled his eyes. 

“You do have a point, but honestly, I think I just felt a bug crawl down my shirt.” 

“I know, I saw it crawl into your sweater.” 

Draco dropped the basket and started to take off his sweater. Harry had a feeling Draco would do that and immediately caught the basket before bursting into laughter. 

“Draco, calm down, I was just joking!” He said through fits of laughter. 

“You fucking prat!” He yelled, putting it his sweater back on and glaring at Harry who was still laughing uncontrollably.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Harry said as Draco was about to smack him. “You’ve got to admit, that was hilarious,” Harry said after Draco calmed down. Harry absentmindedly took Draco’s hand, intertwining them. Draco was caught off guard but tried to play it off cool. 

Draco’s palm went sweaty and Harry’s did too, but they both were too nervous to break off the hand holding. 

“It was absolutely not funny. If I did that to you, you’d be fuming.” Draco pointed out and Harry simply shrugged. 

“So, you asked Pansy to help you out with getting ready for the date,” Harry said, changing the subject so Draco wouldn’t still be upset. But at this, Draco went pink and mumbled something that Harry couldn’t hear because of how softly he had said it. “Pardon?” 

“I was nervous,” Draco muttered a little louder, avoiding eye contact with Harry. He chuckled softly at Draco. 

“I don’t think you have anything to be embarrassed about, as Pansy already sort of knew. Me, I had to make up a story so that Hermione wouldn't ask so many questions.”

Draco laughed at that. The awkwardness that’s at the beginning of any first date was dwindling out, and both of them were happy about it. 

“Really? I’m a girl now?” Draco asked, smiling at Harry. 

“Yup, who’s in fifth year. And in Hufflepuff.” 

“Huffle… outrageous!” 

“I know. You are such a Slytherin that you could be Salazar himself.”

“Oh, as if you’re not a huge Gryffindork. ‘Oh, I’m going to jump on a broom that I don’t know how to ride to help out my friend!’”

“Much to my memory, it was your fault for being such a jerk to Neville. But then again, not surprising. Classic Slytherin move.” 

“So, what else did you tell her?” Draco said after rolling his eyes at Harry. 

“Nothing much. Just that I never expected to ever be on a date with you, or to like you. Then she questioned me about who you are so I lied, and then I moved on and asked her for advice.” 

“That really is sadder than what I did.”

“Really? What did you do, then?” 

“I screamed around the Slytherin area looking for Pansy until I found her, then proceeded to ask her for advice,” Draco admitted, staring down at his shoes, embarrassed. 

“Oh yeah, and that isn’t sadder than what I did,” Harry replied with a scoff.

“You made up a girl!” 

“You screamed looking around for Pansy!” 

Both of them turned to look at each other at the same time, causing embarrassment between the two. However, neither of them looked away, and they ended up staring at each other as they walked. 

“Ha, you blinked,” Draco said with a smirk. 

“We were having a staring competition?” Harry asked, blinking in confusion. 

“We weren’t?” Draco replied, confused too. “Oh, either way, I won, because you blinked first.” 

“You’re so competitive,” Harry said with an eye roll. “Can you hold this basket now? It’s kind of heavy and my arm hurts.” 

Draco rolled his eyes and took the basket from Harry. “How long has your arm been hurting for? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I didn’t want you to hold it the whole time since it’s heavy.”

“I’m stronger than you, you prat. I can handle it.” Draco replied with an eye roll. “Well? Does your arm feel better now?” 

“Yes, I’m fine, Draco, stop fussing.” 

“You’re the one who complained about it, so I am going to fuss as long as you keep complaining.” 

“Draco, I just stopped complaining.” 

“...well then fine, I don’t care if your stupid arm hurts or not.” Draco huffed, turning to look away from him.

“Maybe it hurts a little…” Harry teased, and Draco rolled his eyes but turned to look at Harry. 

“Don’t joke about it. Now, if it’s actually hurting, do you want me to help?”

“You’re so cute when you’re worried,” Harry said without thinking, causing Draco to turned slightly pink. 

“Shut up, I’m not cute.” He mumbled, looking away from Harry because of how embarrassed he was.v

“Yes, you are, cutie.” Harry teased. Draco involuntarily smiled, but then covered it up with a glare, but it softened and he smiled again when he looked at Harry. 

“Oh shut up, I’m not cute. If anything, you’re the cute one.” Draco teased back. “Messy hair, round glasses? Cute.”

And they just kept on shooting compliments of how the other was cute until they reached an end of the forest. 

“Woah, I’ve never been this far into the forest before.” Harry breathed, to which Draco rolled his eyes. 

“I believe that to be a good thing. Knowing you, you’d probably get yourself killed.” Draco said with a scoff. 

“Oh, as if you’d be any better,” Harry replied. “You’d have died right at the beginning of the Forbidden Forest if it weren’t for me.”

“We could go on all day about this. Want to call a truce and sit down to eat?” 

“Sounds awesome, cutie.”

“Oh, shut up with that or I’ll turn right around and walk away.” 

“You wouldn’t, I’m too cute and you’re too scared to go alone.” Harry teased Draco again. He just felt so carefree around him. He was able to tease him and joke around with him without worrying about judgment. 

“You’re right,” Draco admitted, getting out the picnic blanket and spreading it over the grass and sitting down, “you are too cute. Plus, you know what they say, don’t leave kids alone in forests.”

“If I’m a kid to you, that makes you a pedophile.”

“A what?”

“Someone who’s attracted to minors? Jeez, you really know nothing.” 

“Concerning the Muggle world, no I don’t.” Draco opened the basket, to reveal all kinds of Muggle snacks. 

“Says the one who has all these Muggle snacks. Ooh, Lays chips, I haven’t had these in a while!” Harry grabbed the packet of chips from the basket, opening it and starting to eat it. 

“I don’t know what any of these are, Pansy forced me to bring this along. She said that it would be a neat surprise for the both of us.” 

“Pansy’s smart,” Harry said through a mouthful of chips, causing the chips from his mouth to fly everywhere. 

“Attractive,” Draco said sarcastically as he wiped off a few chips that had landed on his face. “Nice first impression for a first date.” 

“Yet you want a second date,” Harry said as he put more chips into his mouth. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Draco said as he got out chocolate chip cookies from the basket. “Say, if we  _ somehow  _ had a second date, where would it be?”

“Preferably somewhere quiet, where we can just hang out. Maybe we can dance a little?” Harry stormed ideas, suddenly getting excited.

“I hate dancing." 

“Even slow dancing?” Harry asked with a wink. 

“It always felt wrong, dancing. But then again, I was always forced to slow dance with a girl. It could be different with you.” Draco said, munching on his cookies. 

“Let’s try it,” Harry said and set down the packet of chips and standing up. He grabbed Draco’s hands and pulled him up. 

“Do we have to?” Draco whined, but immediately shut up when he felt Harry’s arm around his waist. 

“Okay, since you’re a little taller - which I hate, by the way - I guess you put your arm around my waist and I put mine on your shoulder,” Harry explained, doing so as he spoke. He put up his free hand and intertwined them with Draco’s.

And they started dancing. 

“There’s no music,” Draco said with a laugh. 

“Alright, if you’re going to be picky about it,” Harry said with an eye roll. He walked over to the basket and saw that there was an iPod inside. Pansy was really, really smart. He smiled and shuffled through the playlist, putting on a romantic song. Harry walked back to Draco. 

“Impressive,” Draco said as he led Harry, dancing along to the music. “Maybe we’ll have that second date.” 

“You’re pretty good at slow dancing,” Harry said, occasionally tripping over Draco’s foot. “Good, good. I’ll note it down when I think about having a second date.” 

Draco rolled his eyes. “However, you aren’t,” Draco said as Harry tripped over his foot for the umpteenth time. “Here, let’s go a little slower.”

Draco gently slowed down and gracefully led Harry; for the first time in his life, he had enjoyed slow dancing. 

He felt good. That missing feeling he used to get when dancing with girls? Draco now felt complete. 

  
  


 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno how I feel about this chapter lol


	8. Chapter 8

Pansy practically barged into Draco’s dorm on Monday morning.

A shirtless Draco grabbed his wand and pointed it at whoever barged in. He rolled his eyes when he saw that it was only Pansy. Draco was the only one in his dorm. He always liked using the bathroom after his dorm mates because everyone would leave for breakfast and he’d have the room to himself while he got ready.

“Pansy! How did you even get in?” Draco asked as he threw on his school shirt, turning away from her and buttoning it up.

“ _Alohomora,_ of course,” Pansy said with a shrug, sitting down on Draco’s bed and grinning. “Anyways, I know you’ve been avoiding me since Saturday. Did the date not go well?”

Draco didn’t respond to that, only shrugged and put on his sweater, and turned to face Pansy. His face was pink.

“It went really well, didn’t it?” Pansy asked with a smirk.

“M-maybe.” Draco stuttered, suddenly very embarrassed.

“Come on, I need more than that. What happened?” Pansy asked, patting the bed, indicating for him to sit down. Draco rolled his eyes but sat down anyways.

“Well, we walked past the whole Forbidden Forest and there was this empty area with just grass all around. We sat down there and ate the Muggle snacks you gave me. You put in a Muggle device on purpose, didn’t you?”

“I had a feeling you’d need some music,” Pansy said with a shrug.

“Anyways, I hinted that we would have a second date and he said that maybe we would dance on the second date. I said I hated dancing and he told me that we should try out dancing for the next date. So, we slowed dance.” Draco ranted. It felt good to talk about it to Pansy, he had kept in the feeling of excitement he got every time he thought of Harry and now he could let it out.

“How was the dancing?”

“Harry doesn’t know how to dance for his life,” Draco said with a laugh. “He kept on tripping over my foot, and at one point he fell over. If it weren’t for me, he would have bruises all over his face. Then, after dancing we ate some more snacks and just talked. Pansy, it felt so good. I felt so free. I forgot I was a Death Eater. I forgot about what... _he’s_ making me do.”

“Draco, that’s great,” Pansy said with a smile. “All thanks to _me_.” She flicked her hair behind, smirking.

“Sorry, I fail to see how this is your doing,” Draco replied. “Come on, let’s go to breakfast.” He quickly changed the subject before Pansy could go on an explanation of how it was her doing.

********

Harry stood in front of the mirror, fixing his sweater and tie, and running a hand through his hair to fix it. He then noticed that in one small part of his hair, the roots were greyish-white.

“Ron! Ron, come here.” Harry called out. Ron, who had just finished putting on his school uniform, walked over to Harry.

“What is it?” Ron asked, slightly annoyed, looking at Harry’s reflection instead of Harry himself.

“Don’t these strands of my hair look white to you?” Harry asked, turning to Ron, keeping his hair pushed back to show him.

“Yeah, that’s strange,” Ron said with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe you’re getting grey hair.”

“Ron, I’m not even an adult yet. How could I possibly be going grey?” Harry asked, astonished by Ron’s logic.

Ron simply shrugged. “I dunno. It’ll probably just wash out. Come on, I’m hungry, let’s get to breakfast.”

“You’re no help,” Harry muttered as he following Ron out of their dorm.

“Hey, I told you what I think it is. Not my fault that you think it’s bloody stupid.”

“It _is_ bloody stupid,” Harry said with an eye roll. They slowly entered the Hall. Harry made eye contact with Draco and quickly looked away, starting to smile.

Harry and Ron sat down on either side of Hermione, grateful that she saved a seat for them like she always does.

“Good morning, ‘Mione,” Ron muttered as he sat down. “And Harry, it is _not_ bloody stupid. It’s the only logic.”

“It is not!”

“What are you two arguing about this time?” Hermione asked with a sigh, shutting her book and putting it aside, finishing off her breakfast.

“Ron thinks I’m getting old and getting grey hair,” Harry said with an eye roll. Ron shrugged at that. Hermione turned to look at Ron. She looked so done with his logic.

“And why, exactly?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry pushed his hair back to reveal a few strands of his roots greyish-white. She rolled her eyes. “That’s completely normal. It’ll probably just wash out, it could be paint or something of that sort.”

Harry nodded eagerly. “Yes, thank you.”

Ron rolled his eyes, and they continued eating.

Closeby, Draco was playing with his food again. “Is it too soon for a second date?” He blurted suddenly, though quietly so only Pansy could hear him. Pansy laughed slightly.

“Don’t call it a second date. Just ask to hang out today evening.” Pansy said. “That makes it easier.”

“But I want to tell him to meet me now before he makes plans.”

“Draco, wait a bit. Don’t you sit right next to each other in Defense Against the Dark Arts? Slip him a note then.”

“But that’s not till after breakfast!”

“Breakfast is about to be over in five minutes, just wait a bit, Draco,” Pansy said with an eye roll. “But oh, what can you do. Love is hard to handle, I understand.”

“I’m not in love!” Draco hissed, to which Pansy just shrugged at.

“Whatever you say, Draco.”

Then everyone stood up to get to class. Draco and Pansy bickered all the way to class, about whether Draco was in love with Harry or not.

Harry was a bit behind in the crowd, listening to Hermione and Ron who were beside him, arguing about the homework’s answers. For once, everyone was on time (which annoyed Snape - taking points from a house that’s not Slytherin was the joy of his day, especially taking points from Gryffindor).

Harry parted ways with Ron and Hermione, going to sit in the front of the class, joining Draco who was already seated.

“Hey,” Harry whispered amidst of everyone chattering away loudly as he sat down and put his bag aside. Only Draco heard him and smiled slightly. That’s literally all they could at this point; giving each other a full smile would attract too much attention.

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but the chattering was dying down so all he could slip out was a venomous “Potter.” and had to glare at him. Harry glared right back, and then the two put their hands under the table, Harry putting his hand right on top of Draco’s which was resting on his thigh.

The two resisted the urge to smile.

Snape started the class and told them to write an essay. Since Harry sat on the right and Draco on the left side of the table, it was helpful. Draco was left handed and Harry was right-handed, so the two could hold hands under the table. Of course, it was risky so the two did it very slowly and calmly so Snape wouldn’t notice.

After class was over, Draco and Harry were forced to let go of each other's hands which both of them didn’t want to do. Handing Snape his essay, Harry turned around hastily, and walked right into Draco, not realizing that he had been right behind him.

If it were anyone else, Draco would have immediately pushed them off of him, but knowing it was Harry, he simply held on to Harry (sneakily) so he could balance them to stand upright. But Harry was heavier than Draco expected, so they both went crashing down to the floor.

Everyone turned to look at what made the sudden noise. Snape rolled his eyes.

Harry was right on top of Draco. He quickly sat up. Both Draco and Harry’s eyes went down to Draco’s left arm. The sleeves were rolled up, so his Dark Mark was visible. Harry moved and sat right in front of his arm so nobody would see it, especially Ron and Hermione.

Snape watched as Harry did so.

“Mr. Potter, please stand up. Ten points from Gryffindor for making such a ruckus.”

By this time Draco had rolled up his shirt sleeve, so the two stood up hastily. Draco realized that he better pass a snarky comment to make it seem normal, as Hermione and Ron was glancing over at him with surprise on their faces.

“Wow, Potter, just when I thought you couldn’t get more stupid,” Draco said with venom in his voice. “Are you sure your glasses even work?”

Harry turned around and rolled his eyes at Draco. “Shut up Malfoy, it was an accident.”

“Are you sure you weren’t an accident?” He said, making Blaise, Goyle and Crabbe laugh. Draco felt terrible for saying it and immediately turned away from Harry, grabbing his bag and leaving the classroom and waited right outside for Pansy so he could talk to her.

Harry didn’t mind, he knew that they had to get by like this, faking the hate. He slowly took his bag and joined Hermione and Ron who were waiting for him at the door of the classroom.

“Harry, what was that all about?” Hermione asked as they walked to their next class, which was Potions, which they had with the Slytherins too.

“Hmm?” Harry hummed. He was busy thinking about how to ask Draco to hang out later today.

“Just now? What was that whole thing with Malfoy about?”

“I just bumped into him, it was an accident,” Harry said, snapping out of his daydream.

“What was with the sitting down? Why didn’t you just stand up?” Hermione pestered.

“What is this, an interrogation?” Harry replied with an eye roll. “I sat down because I got hurt by the fall.” He lied.

“Isn’t Malfoy the one who took the fall? I thought you landed right on top of him.” Ron piped in.

“Oh, what are you now, detectives? I sat down because I wanted to make sure that both Dr- Malfoy and I were okay.”

“Since when do you care about Malfoy?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t, but since it was my fault he fell, I had the decency to make sure he was okay. Are we done with this interrogation now?”

“Strange,” Hermione replied. “Usually you wouldn’t have done that. Maybe your girlfriend is making you sweet even to your enemies.” Hermione added, just to tease Harry.

“Yeah, she is,” Harry said with a grin, speeding up his pace and running into class.

“Heard that, Draco?” Pansy said with a wink. Draco and Pansy had been walking right behind the three Gryffindors.

Draco was too busy grinning to pay attention to Pansy. “What?” He asked after a few moments, registering that Pansy had said something to him.

“Did you hear what Harry said? He _loooves_ you!” She sang.

“He doesn’t, but that was amusing to watch. Harry is a horrible liar.”

“You didn’t hear the last part?” Pansy asked, disappointed. “Harry said that he’s becoming soft because of his ‘girlfriend’, which is you, obviously. Your boyfriend is really cute.”

“Boyfriend!” Draco cried out in shock as they entered the Potions classroom. Almost everyone turned to look at Draco. “Pansy, you’ve got a boyfriend?” He asked loudly without missing a beat. Everyone turned away, thinking that they were just having a normal conversation now.

Pansy rolled her eyes. “You’re so paranoid.” She whispered as they sat down at an empty table.

“I’m not,” Draco replied with an eye roll. “I didn’t want Harry to take it the wrong way so I made something up… okay, maybe I’m a little paranoid.”

Pansy smirked, but she had no time to say anything in reply because Slughorn started off the lesson.

********

On Monday, Draco and Harry had no time to meet after classes. After desperately trying to find time for each other, they realized that they didn’t have time on weekdays.

So after a few secret letters to each other back and forth, they soon decided that their meeting day would be Saturday.

Harry walked to the entrance of the forest on Saturday morning after dinner, to see Draco already leaning against the tree.

“You’re late,” Draco said with an eye roll.

“Coming,” Harry checked his wrist where his watch was, “two minutes after the time we had planned to meet is not late, Draco.”

“I got worried.”

“It was two minutes.”

“I was here five minutes early.”

“I thought you were going to be late like you were last Saturday.”

“Okay, are we done bickering for the day?” Draco asked as he took Harry’s hand, starting to walk into the forest.

“Nope,” Harry replied with a grin, swinging their hands back and forth as they walked. “I’m surprised no one’s out here. I thought that we’d have to use my Invisibility Cloak till we got deep into the forest.”

“It’s the middle of winter, Harry. Everyone’s inside in their Common Rooms. We’re actually crazy to be out here when it’s this cold.”

“This is the only place we can hang out freely without people catching us,” Harry said with an eye roll. “I mean, we could use the Room of Requirement but I haven’t been able to get the room in a while.”

 

They slowly reached the plain grass area where they had their first date the previous Saturday. Already feeling cold, Harry quickly got his wand out and started a fire. He slowly sat on the ground a bit further away from the fire and patted the empty spot beside him.

“Come, sit down,” Harry said. Draco did as he said and sat down. The two stared at the fire for a few moments.

“Do you ever feel like you’re being forced to do something?”

Without missing a beat, Harry answered. “All the time.”

Draco seemed a little surprised. “Really? You? Brave Harry Potter?”

“Of course. It’s not like I like facing Voldemort every year, you know.” Harry said with a small smile.

“Yeah, that’s true…” Draco said with a sigh. “Just… after you _do_ face him, you always have your friends to help you. You know, Granger and the Weasleys, and Dumbledore too… For me, it isn’t like that.”

Harry, who was staring at the fire, now turned to Draco and sat a little closer to him. Harry gave him a reassuring look, a look that said that he could talk as much as he wanted to.

“I just… it’s different around my house. At Malfoy Manor, everything’s lonely. Most of the time it’s just three people in their own parts of the manor. I’ve had my own wing ever since I was old enough to find my way around. Ever since then, I was distanced. Well, it wasn’t as if we were exactly all close.

“But it felt like something changed, and something did. It was my father. He started forcing Mother to see his perspective, forced her to join the Death Eaters… after that, Mother had changed. Father had always been cold, but now she was too. I felt disconnected from her. After joining Hogwarts, I felt a little better. I had Slytherin friends, I had a cute enemy, I was busy with studies. Forgetting home was easy. That’s how it was till the fifth year.

“The summer break…” Draco drifted off into silence. “This past summer break…”

“Draco, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. We can skip past that bit.” Harry said softly, taking Draco’s hand and holding onto it tightly.

“No! No, I want you to know. In case… in case anything happens. You need to know that I’m on your side. You know that, right?”

“Of course,” Harry said reassuringly. He started drawing circles on the back of Draco’s hand with his index finger. By now he was right beside Draco, almost on top of him.

“This last summer break… well, it was horrible, Harry.” Draco said slowly. “They made me go looking for you, at the Grimmauld Place. I went to the door but didn’t go inside. I stayed there for a good twenty minutes before going back and saying that you weren’t there.”

“...Draco, that’s so stupid.” Harry said softly. “You should have just walked inside. What if I was there? Then you would have lied and it wouldn’t have been good for you if they found out.”

“I know but… I couldn’t bring myself to it.” Draco said with a sigh, placing his head on Harry’s chest. “I’m on your side okay? Even if I have to lie about which side I’m on. I’m always on your side, the good side.”

There was a pause. “Hey, Draco?”

“Yes?"

“Would you ever… tell me if you were asked to do Death Eater work? Because… you know that I’m here for you, right?”

“What? Oh yeah, definitely.”

“Okay, good. I can’t… I can’t handle another person hiding things from me and lying to me. I need to know you’re on my side. Telling me what he’s asking you to do… will make me sure that you’re truly on my side. Not that I think you’re not on my side.”

“Yes, Harry, I understand.”

Harry simply nodded reluctantly, and they sat there, both their eyes on the fire but both of their minds wandering in different directions.

*******

When Harry woke on Wednesday morning, the white in his hair had increased instead of washing out.

“Absolutely ridiculous,” He huffed as walked with Ron to breakfast.

“What is?” Ron asked as they entered the Hall. Harry was about to answer but his eyes went and fixated on Draco.

“Uh, nothing.” He replied, grinning as he looked away and sat down beside Hermione.

Hermione and Ron went into their usual bickering session and Harry only half-listened, finishing off his breakfast faster than them as usual and standing up to get to class. He had fifteen minutes till class started.  

Draco watched him leave and got up himself, leaving without a backwards glance at the Hall. Pansy simply rolled her eyes.

“Potter,” Draco whispered right in Harry’s ear, making him shudder. The two looked around to see if anyone was in the hallway. Seeing no one, Draco dragged Harry into a nearby broom closet. Draco turned the light on and smiled at Harry.

“Draco,” Harry breathed when he stared into Draco’s eyes. He didn’t know what was up today, but staring into those endless silver eyes, with his silk hair that he didn’t gel up specially for Harry, and his beautiful smile, Harry couldn’t think straight. “You look stunning.”

“Thanks, you too,” Draco murmured. As Harry had been checking out Draco, he was doing the same to Harry. He was studying his beautiful green eyes and his messy brown hair and his cute nose and his glasses and his scar that he always liked to hide behind his hair.

Harry slowly leaned forward and Draco did the same. Before they knew it, their lips were locked, roughly and with lust. Soon enough, their tongues were dancing. Draco pushed Harry against the door and kissed him passionately and roughly.

It was a kiss they both enjoyed.

The two boys pulled apart at the same time, gasping for air. Neither of them had realized how close their bodies were. Draco started kissing Harry’s neck softly. Harry leaned back and let him do so. The two were craving for attention from the other.

“I missed you,” Draco mumbled to Harry. He had now stopped kissing Harry’s neck and simply was laying his head on his shoulder. Their hands were intertwined.

“We held hands in class on Monday,” Harry said with an eye roll.

“Uh, no, you placed your hand on my thigh and started tickling me and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from squirming.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Honestly, you know how hard it was for me to push your hand away without Snape noticing? Merlin, I wanted to push you to the ground but I, of course, couldn’t.”

“Cons of declaring me your enemy in first year,” Harry said with a sigh, looking into Draco’s eyes.

“You mean cons of not shaking my hand in first year,” Draco said with an eye roll.

“Heads up,” Harry said before jumping on Draco, wrapping his legs around his waist.

“Harry!” Draco whined with an eye roll as he balanced himself and wrapped his arms around Harry so he wouldn’t fall. “Give me a warning next time!”

“I did!”

“Now our robes are all tangled!”

“Oh shut up, Draco.” Harry’s arms were now wrapped around Draco’s neck and he pushed their lips together. Harry had jumped on Draco’s front. The kiss lasted long again, the two knew that they probably wouldn’t be able to freely make out until Saturday.

After a long kiss, they pulled apart and Harry slowly got off Draco and then they slipped out of the closet one by one after the bell rung.

They were late to their own classes but in their opinions, it was ‘so worth being late’.

*******

“My Draco’s here!” Harry teased with a grin as Draco walked up to him on Saturday morning.

“Here I am, my darling.” Draco teased back. The two started off into the forest. Harry took Draco’s hand and stared at it for a few seconds before looking back up.

“You’re so pale. Ferret.”

“What did you just say, Scarface?”

“I _said_ -”

“It was a rhetorical question, bonehead.”

“Not my fault that I think you’re deaf, you sit at the front of the class and can’t even hear what the teachers are saying.”

“Maybe because I’m not paying attention?”

“Oh, that’s much better,” Harry said with a scoff.

“Rude.” Draco huffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“You’re not forgiven,” Draco said with a smug look on his face. “Aren’t you too pretty to be a boy?”

“Blondie, I can be anything you like.”

“Smooth motherfucker,” Draco muttered under his breath. “Scarhead-”

“I prefer Scarface, Ferret.” Harry cut him off, winking and smirking. For the rest of the walk, they occasionally bickered but it was mostly silence and a lot of staring into each other’s eyes.

They reached their usual grass area, but this time there was a huge white tent put up. Draco’s eyes widened an all Harry did was smile.

“Did you-- Harry-- _you?_ ” Draco was at a loss for words. Harry simply nodded.

“Yes, I did. I came here after dinner yesterday. It took ages but I had to make it. It felt empty without it. Besides, I thought maybe… you need a place to get away from everything.”

“Harry…” Draco’s eyes were starting to tear up. “I hate you,” he said with a chuckle.

Draco meant the exact opposite of what he said.

They slowly walked inside. Inside, there was a couch, a small coffee table and on the other side, there was a slightly bigger table with all kinds of stuff. There were also fairy lights inside.

“This isn’t much-”

“Shut up. Shut up, Harry.” Draco was trying to hold back the tears. “Why are you like this?”

Harry thought he did something wrong. Draco turned around. His eyes were glinting with tears, but he was smiling so wide that he looked like the happiest person alive.

“Thank you, Harry. You have no idea how much this… means to me.”

Draco pulled him into a tight hug.

“It was nothing…” Harry said, slowly sitting down on the couch. “I just wanted you to be comfortable. After all, walking for twenty-five minutes just to reach here gets tiring.”

Draco was still smiling, though. Draco gave Harry a quick kiss on the lips before settling down on the couch and resting his head on his lap. Harry pulled out a blanket from his back and put it over Draco.

Draco fell asleep, and so did Harry.

  
  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ending is a bit cringe but I'm gonna go with it. hope you like it! This is a long chapter lol


	9. Chapter 9

They woke up that evening suddenly realizing it was dark out. 

“Shit, what time is it?” Draco asked as he sleepily sat up. Harry quickly got out his wand and cast a  _ Lumos  _ and checked his wrist which had his watch. 

“It’s only six,” Harry said with a sigh. Draco’s eyes moved to the table at the other end of the tent, where there were three owls perched. “Do you just want to stay the night?” Harry was looking in the opposite direction, so he didn’t see the owls. He slowly walked over and switched on the fairy lights so it was well lit in the tent.“Draco? I’d prefer an answer.”

Harry turned and when he made eye contact with one of the owls, all three came flying to him, each having a paper with them. The owls dropped the letters in his hands and went back to the table, patiently waiting for Harry to tell them something or give them a letter back.

“Who’s it from?” Draco asked, taking one of the letters and opening it. 

The one that Draco opened said the following: 

_ Harry, Ron and I are getting really worried. We hope you’re alright. Please come see us. We’ll be in the library till dinner.  _

_ Hermione _

Draco read it out loud and Harry read his own letters. 

“Shit, I forgot about our Quidditch practice…” Harry said. “This one’s from Ron… and this one’s from Ginny-”

“Let me see that,” Draco cut him off and grabbed the letter that was from Ginny.

_ Harry,  _

_ The whole team’s annoyed, but I convinced them you just got sick. Hope you’re okay. See you at dinner  _

_ Ginny :)  _

Draco scoffed. “Look at that smiley face she added,” He scoffed again and looked away. Harry smiled slightly. 

“Are you- are you jealous?” He asked in a serious manner.

“What? No! I’m not.” Draco said with a huff, looking away. “So we’re staying here for the night?” 

“Aw, Draco, you’re jealous!” 

“I’m not!” Draco snapped, glaring at Harry. “If a slut wants to send you a letter, whatever, I- I don’t care!”

“Slut!” Harry echoed with a laugh. He took one of the papers and flipped it to the other side where it was plain, quickly getting out a pen and writing a brief message. 

_ I’m okay  _

_ Just had to get away for a bit. Talk to you tomorrow x  _

_ Harry  _

He walked over to the owls and attached the letters to one of the owls. “Go back to whoever sent you.” 

The three owls left and Harry walked back to Draco, sitting on his lap. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry. “So, back to talking about you being jealous.” 

“I’m not jealous!” He murmured. 

“Yeah, you are.” 

“Maybe a bit, but is that so bad?” Draco admitted. 

“Nope, it’s cute.” Harry said with a laugh.“Hey, do you want to play truth or dare?” 

Draco scoffed. “No.” 

“Please? It’ll be fun!”

“Harry,” Draco said firmly, looking at him. 

“Draco.” Harry mocked his tone with an eye roll. “Come on. How about truth or truth?”

“Merlin, Harry! Fine.” 

“Great!” Harry clapped his hands together. “I’ll start. Draco, truth or truth?”

“Dare.” He said with an eye roll, receiving a smack from Harry. “Alright, truth!” 

“Who was your first kiss?”

Draco awkwardly looked away, running a hand through his hair, mumbling something. 

“I didn’t quite get that,” Harry said, confused. Even though he was so close to Draco - Merlin, he was right on top of Draco - he couldn’t hear him because of how quietly he said it. 

“I said, my first kiss was you.” 

Harry burst into laughter. “No way that’s true!” Harry said through laughter. Draco’s eyes widened, confused. 

“Why not?!”

“Be-because you’re a great kisser! So there’s no way you haven’t had experience.” 

“Harry. My first kiss was you.” Draco said firmly. “I saved it… for someone special.”

“Am I special enough to be your first kiss?” Harry asked slowly. “Merlin, am I special at all, to you?” 

“If I didn’t think you were special enough to be my first kiss, I wouldn’t be here right now. In fact, I would have pushed you off and punched you in the face when you kissed me.” 

“You think I’m special?” 

“You’re the only one who I can talk to without constantly feeling like I need to bite my tongue and hold back what I’m saying. And you’re the only one who pushed your way through to help me. Numerous times.”

Harry was starting to turn a little pink. He slowly placed his head on Draco’s shoulder, snuggling up to him. “Thanks,” he mumbled. Draco felt Harry’s warmth as he snuggled up to him. It felt nice. It felt like he was protecting Harry. 

“Harry, truth or truth?” 

Harry laughed. “Truth.” 

“Who was  _ your  _ first kiss?” Draco asked with a slight smirk.

“Cho Chang,” Harry said, thinking back to his first kiss. 

“You liked Cho Chang?!”

“Merlin, no! She was sad over Cedric’s death. I couldn’t just pull away.” Harry explained. “Ah, she was a good kisser though.” 

Draco shoved Harry off of him. Harry burst into laughter. 

“You’re so jealous!” Harry said through laughter. “Calm down. I was only joking. She doesn’t even compare to you.” 

“Good.” 

“...because she’s  _ that _ great at kissing.” 

“Harry!” Draco cried. 

“I’m only kidding! Calm down.”

And then they spent the rest of the night playing Truth or Truth, which eventually dissolved into normal chatter about this and that. The two felt so comfortable around each other, it was unreal. Harry felt happy. And the next morning, when they both made their way back to their dorms, they felt disappointment that the night was over.

That they wouldn’t be able to talk, kiss or snuggle until Saturday. Until then, they had to pretend to be enemies. It was just so much work and they missed each other already. 

********

On Tuesday morning, Harry made his way into Potions and sat down next to Hermione and Ron. He made eye contact with Draco who was seated across the classroom. 

Draco felt like being playful. “Potter, you have no friends!”

But, Pansy felt like being playful too. “Hey, Harry, we’re friends, right?” She called out to him sweetly. 

“Only the best of friends, Pansy!” Harry responded, smirking. Draco’s eyes widened before he rolled his eyes and scoffed, looking away. 

“What was that?” Hermione questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh, just messing with Malfoy,” Harry said with a shrug. 

“No, what was that with Pansy Parkinson?” 

“Like I just said, we were just messing with Malfoy. He said I had no friends and then Pansy asked me if I was her friend to annoy him.” 

“Oh, alright.” 

But Hermione knew something was up. Ron didn’t suspect a thing, though, but being an oblivious person, he didn’t suspect a lot of things. 

After classes were over at the end of the day, Hermione caught up with Harry as they walked to dinner. 

“Your girlfriend isn’t a Hufflepuff, is she?” Hermione asked with a smug look on her face. 

“Wha-what?” Harry asked, stopping short. Hermione smirked. 

“So I’m right,” Hermione said with a smirk. “Harry, I think I know who it is.” 

Harry let out a sigh of relief. “Really? I wasn’t ready to tell you yet, but since you found out on your own-” 

“It’s Pansy Parkinson, isn’t it?” Hermione said, still having a smug look on her face. “I could tell by the look on Malfoy’s face. He’s probably super annoyed.”

Harry stared at Hermione for a few seconds, before cracking up into laughter. “P-Pansy Parkinson? You have got to be kidding!” He wheezed. He bent down and placed his hands on his knees trying not to laugh too hard. 

“Okay, maybe it isn’t Pansy then… Sorry.” Hermione said, feeling a little embarrassed now. 

“No, it isn’t,” He said, regaining his posture and calming down, but he was still grinning. “No need to apologize. I can see why you think it’s her.” 

“Oh Harry, just tell me who it is, for crying out loud!” said Hermione suddenly. 

“I can’t! We agreed not to tell anyone.” 

“But I’m not just  _ anyone _ , I’m your best friend!” 

“Hermione, you know I won’t say anything. The only option is for you to guess or find out for yourself.” 

“All I know is that she’s not in Hufflepuff! There are so many girls in this school! Harry, come on!” 

“Why are you guys just stood here in the middle of the hallway?” A voice behind them asked. The two turned to see Ron frowning at them. 

“Harry won’t tell me who his girlfriend is,” Hermione explained, and they started walking again. “Honestly, Harry, we really should know. We’re your best friends.”

Harry rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. The white roots of his hair were glinting and very visible as his hair was pushed back. 

They entered the hall and Harry’s eyes automatically went to the Slytherin table. There was Draco, sitting right beside Pansy. But he wasn’t smiling. Or talking. He was looking down at his food. He seemed to be upset. 

Draco felt a pair of eyes at him. Looking up, he saw Harry. At that moment, Harry was the last person he wanted to notice that he wasn’t in a good mood. Draco snapped his eyes back to his food. 

Harry wanted to say something. Go over to him; to talk to him. But he couldn’t.

“Hermione, maybe we should wait a little for him to tell us,” Ron said with a laugh. “Besides, I like this mystery.” 

“Alright, fine,” Hermione said. “Harry, come on, we’re already late.” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Coming.” Harry mumbled. He didn’t even realize that he had stopped walking. He slowly made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat down, starting to eat. 

*******

On Thursday evening after dinner, Harry found Draco roaming the halls and slowly caught up to him. 

“Draco, hey.” He greeted, breathless. He was panting, but it wasn’t a surprise. He had to run all the way across the hall to catch up to Draco. 

“Oh, Harry. Hey.” Draco looked taken aback. “I didn’t expect you to be here.” 

“I was looking for you. I want to talk.” 

“Oh? Uh… Harry, I’m a little bus-”

But Harry had already grabbed his hand and was taking him to an empty classroom.  He shut the door behind them and the only light in the room was the moonlight coming from a window on the other side of the room. Harry pushed Draco against the door, careful to not push him too hard. 

Draco looked into the depths of Harry’s sparkling green eyes, starting to get lost in them. Harry’s eyes were just so emerald, so green, so-

No. Draco didn’t have time for this. He had to get to work. With a dry mouth, Draco slowly opened his mouth to speak. 

“Harry, I’m bu-”

“Mhm, that’s great,” Harry mumbled before pushing Draco into a kiss.

“Harry…” Draco said through kisses, gently trying to pull away, but Harry wouldn’t budge. “If someone finds us--” 

“Calm down for a bit, Draco.” He whispered in Draco’s ear, which made a chill run right down his spine. In a good way. And with that, Draco was pressing their lips t ogether again, their tongues starting to dance. As Harry put his hand under Draco’s shirt and ran a hand down his chest, the silver-eyed boy let out a soft moan that he couldn’t hold in. Harry smiled at that. Then, he finished the kiss by sucking on Draco’s bottom lip. 

Harry took Draco’s hand and sat down on top of the table. 

“Draco, are you okay?” Harry asked quietly. He could tell by Draco’s sad eyes and a blank expression that something was up. 

“Ye...yeah, Harry, I’m fine,” Draco said quietly, not being able to look Harry in the eye. 

“Draco. What’s wrong?” Harry asked. “I’m not stupid. Even a blind person could tell that something’s up.”

“It’s nothing, Harry.”

“If it’s nothing, then it wouldn’t be bothering you.” 

Well, shit. Harry was right. Draco looked down at his shoes. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to talk to Harry about it. Actually… more so, he _ couldn’t _ .  

“Harry, please just leave it,” Draco said in a warning tone. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He turned away from Harry. 

“I understand, but you do know that you can talk to me, right?”

_ No, Harry. I can’t. I’m forbidden from doing so. _

“Yes, I know.”

“Alright then,” Harry said, then started to grin, pulling Draco closer to him. “So everyone’s going to be at Hogsmeade this Saturday. You know what that means.” 

“We get to hang out near the lake without people there?” 

“Well… yes, but I was thinking more… we hang out in my dorm? I convinced everyone in my dorm to go to Hogsmeade.” 

“That’s perfect,” Draco said and pecked Harry’s lips softly. “Listen, Harry, as much as I like making out with you in empty classrooms, I need to get going. I have  homework due tomorrow.” It felt horrible to lie. It felt so wrong and Draco wanted to do was be honest to Harry; to have Harry hold him and to tell him things were going to be okay, that he wouldn’t have to be forced by the Dark Lord. 

But he couldn’t. He was forbidden from telling anyone. Harry found out that Draco was a Death Eater merely by chance. 

Seeing the disappointed look on Harry’s face only made Draco feel worse.

“Oh, alright… I understand.” Harry muttered quietly.

“See you later,” Draco said, leaning and softly kissing Harry’s forehead. Then, with hesitation, he left the classroom. He broke into a run, pulling up his sleeve and trying not to let the tears fall as the pain of his Dark Mark became almost unbearable again. 

  
  


  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Harry woke on Saturday morning and walked to breakfast with a smile on his face.  _ Sure Draco hadn’t been in the best mood on Thursday, but maybe he was just having a bad day? _ , Harry thought to himself as he started to eat. 

“Morning, Hermione, Ron.” Harry greeted. The two greeted him back and continued eating. “So, Hogsmeade today, huh?” 

“Yes, it’s going to be exciting. On our last Hogsmeade trip, I saw something really pretty but I hadn’t brought enough money to buy it. So I still hope it’ll be there.” Hermione said excitedly. 

“Oh, that’s awesome, Hermione. Show me what it is when you get back.” Harry replied with a smile. He was in a good mood today. Obviously, because he got to hang out with Draco.

Draco entered the Hall feeling much better than Thursday too. The Dark Lord had paused the task for a week or so and he already felt better. He didn’t have the constant burning from his Dark Mark nor did he feel pressurized. When he glanced over at Harry, he smiled slightly.

“Careful there, Hermione almost caught you smiling at Harry!” Pansy scolded. “Honestly, you’re so in love.” 

“Oh shut up, I am  _ not _ .” Draco protested but he was grinning. 

“The look on your face says it all,” Pansy replied with an eye roll. Draco didn’t say anything to that; he was too busy stuffing his face with food. Pansy raised an eyebrow. 

“What? I’m hwungwy.” Draco said through a mouthful. Pansy was so disgusted that she didn’t even bother to roll her eyes. She just focused on her own food.

After breakfast was over and everyone left for Hogsmeade, Harry stood outside the Gryffindor Common Room, waiting for Draco who was going to come by Harry’s Invisibility Cloak. They didn’t want the Fat Lady asking any questions. 

Harry felt a slight pat on his shoulder and almost jumped out of his skin. He had been busily daydreaming about nonsense. 

“Are you going to come in?” The Fat Lady asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Yes,” Harry said with a nod and then murmured the password. The Fat Lady swung the door open and Draco just about made it into the Common Room. The Common Room was mostly empty except for some first years sitting and talking to each other. They didn’t suspect a thing. 

Draco grabbed Harry’s hand as they walked over to the boys’ dorms. 

Once they entered Harry’s dorm, they both let out a sigh of relief. Draco threw off the Cloak.  

“That was tiring,” Harry said with a long sigh.

“For you? Seriously? I had to make sure the Invisibility Cloak wouldn’t slide off of me. I think I had it worse. Next time, you’re coming over to my dorm.” Draco decided. 

“Alright.” Harry agreed with a shrug. “Now, come here.” 

Draco did as Harry asked, approaching him with a glint in his eyes. He immediately pulled the green-eyed boy into a kiss, but this time it was gentle. 

But Harry wasn’t in the mood for gentle. Draco wasn’t either. The kissed suddenly was rough, passionate, and a certain feeling of lust dawned on the two. Harry pulled Draco and they walked over to Harry’s bed, still kissing roughly. Soon enough, Harry was on the bed and Draco was right on top of him, their tongues in each other’s mouth. 

Draco made sure to not lie directly on Harry as they kissed. The two relaxed into the kiss, only occasionally stopping for breaths. 

“Honestly Ron, I can’t believe forgot your money.” A familiar voice nearby said really loudly. 

But before Harry or Draco could register it, Hermione swung the door open and saw the two making out on Harry’s bed.

She let out a squeal and Harry immediately got up, practically shoving Draco off of him.

“Hermione!” Harry croaked awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. Draco, who was on the floor, slowly stood up and hid behind Harry. Which didn’t work at all because Draco is taller than Harry. 

“What the fu-

“Hermione, I told you to wait up!” Came Ron’s voice in the distance. 

“Draco! Hide!” Harry whisper-shouted. 

Draco looked around. He had no time to go to the bathroom to hide. So he jumped on Harry’s bed and closed the curtains around the bed right as Ron walked in.

“Oh, hey, Harry. I thought you said you had a lesson with Dumbledore, that’s why you couldn’t come to Hogsmeade?” Ron questioned. 

“Oh, yeah, I do. It’s in fifteen minutes.” Harry lied smoothly. Hermione, who was staring at Harry, opened her mouth to speak. Harry gave her a pleading look to not say anything.

“...Ron, take your money!” Hermione snapped. 

“Jeez, alright!” Ron said with an eye roll. He grabbed his money bag and turned to leave. “Hermione, come on.” 

“Yeah… just go ahead without me. I’ll meet you at The Three Broomsticks, alright? I just realized I have to grab a book from the library.” 

“Fine. See you later, Harry.” And with that, Ron left, shutting the door behind him. Harry let out a sigh of relief. 

“Okay, what the hell is going on here? Harry, you better explain yourself! I thought you had a girlfriend?” 

Draco slowly got up from the bed. 

“He’s the girlfriend,” Hermione said with realization and a scoff. “Malfoy? Really? Your enemy? He’s been mean to you for years-” 

“Hermione. You don’t know what happened.” Harry cut her off. “See? I knew you’d react like this. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

Hermione slowly shut her mouth and didn’t say anything. 

“I… Draco… it’s a long story,” Harry stuttered, sitting down on the bed. Draco sat down next to him. Hermione raised an eyebrow. 

“Is it now?” She asked with a glare. 

“Yes, it is…” Harry said, biting his lip. Draco slowly took Harry’s hand and held on to it. “Do you want to know? We’ll give you the short version.” 

“Well… alright, if that helps me understand better, then sure.” Hermione sat on the bed closest to Harry’s, which was Ron’s. She settled down and slowly took off her coat. 

“Well, I found Draco in the bathroom. And he was crying-” 

“Wow, just out me like that, thanks,” Draco said half-jokingly. Harry snickered but Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco. “I… I was joking- never mind.” Draco looked away from Hermione.

“Anyways. He told me to go away, and he got out his wand and everything. But I didn’t go. In fact, I did something I never thought I could ever do. I…” Harry turned to look at Draco. “...I hugged him. And told him that I was there for him. And that’s kind of how it started. After that, we sort of became friends. Then I kissed him one night. And here we are now. You already know the date bits.” 

Hermione blinked. “That’s it?” 

“Yup, that’s the short version,” Harry replied with a smile, looking at her reassuringly. 

“And you’re happy?” 

Harry turned to Draco, frowning. “Well…” 

“Harry!” Draco snapped, smacking his shoulder. 

“Just kidding. Yeah, ‘Mione. I’m fine.” Harry said with a wide grin as he stared at Draco who was starting to pout slightly. 

“Okay, Harry. I need to get going now. I promised Ron-” 

“Yeah, I get it, it’s okay. Thanks… for listening.” 

Hermione smiled slightly at Harry, putting her coat back on and got up, and left. She shut the door and stayed right by it. 

“...Well, that’s one person we don’t have to worry about.” Harry said a bit weakly. 

“Uh, where were you during any of that? I’m pretty sure she was glaring at me the whole time.” Draco replied, the nervousness in his voice clear as day. 

“It’s okay, Draco. If they don’t accept you, I don’t care. Because it’s our relationship, not theirs.” Harry reassured Draco, slipping onto his lap and wrapping his legs around Draco’s waist. 

“I know but… I don’t want your best friend hating me. It would make things so much harder. Besides, it would be better if we could all just be friends.” Draco replied hesitantly. 

“Yeah, I know,” Harry mumbled, starting to kiss Draco’s neck gently. 

With that, Hermione left with a smile on her face. 

*******

Draco and Harry had spent the whole morning holed up in Harry’s dorm. They didn’t mean to do so, but it just ended up happening. After their heated make out session (which they had right after Hermione left), they ended up playing cards and a few Muggle board games. It was now lunchtime, but they were still busy playing. Neither of them felt hungry as they were too focused on the game.  

“This game sucks!” Draco cried out as he landed ‘lose your job’. 

Of course, they were playing Life, the board game. 

Harry burst into laughter. “That’s the second time!”

“I was a doctor, I was making much more money than you! Merlin, I hate this game!” 

Harry snuggled up to Draco, trying to hide his laughter. “Harry! Stop laughing at me.” Draco pouted. “Okay… so…” he stretched his hand out to pick up a new career card. “I’m a teacher now… Well, that’s better than nothing.” 

Harry laughed. The two were sitting on Harry’s bed, the board right in front of them. Harry was sitting on Draco’s lap because he felt cold (but really he was just in the mood to feel Draco’s warm hands wrapped around his stomach). 

“I’m getting married! Finally.” Harry said as he landed on the ‘marriage’ box. He quickly got a boy pawn to put into the car beside him. “Draco, that’s you!” He pointed and grinned. 

“Really now?” Draco asked as he smiled back. It was impossible not to. Harry’s green eyes were sparkling as he grinned. His hair was greasy and sticking up (revealing the white roots in those specific strands of his hair) and his glasses were falling forwards as he leaned over to move his car to the box.

Harry nodded.

“So you think we could get married?” Draco asked slowly, trying not to make things awkward. Harry nodded again. 

“Definitely. We’ll have a small wedding, just friends and family. You’d walk down the aisle and we’d exchange vows. You’d take my name-”   


“Hold on,” Draco cut him off. “Really? You think Draco Potter would be better than Harry Malfoy? I am  _ not  _ taking your last name!”

“I’m not taking Malfoy!  _ Harry Malfoy, _ can’t you hear how bad it sounds?” 

“I can’t, I’m still hearing how bad  _ Draco Potter  _ sounds!” 

“Okay, okay!” Harry said. “I have only one way to compromise this.” He quickly took out a piece of paper and a quill, starting to scribble something down. Then he handed it to Draco. The paper said the following: 

_ Draco Malfoy-Potter _

_ Harry Malfoy-Potter _

“Oh, dear. Imagining introducing ourselves formally,” Draco mused with a laugh. “Hello there, I’m Draco Lucius Malfoy-Potter. No one will see it coming. I think we’ve been on the Daily Prophet for being enemies. The whole Wizarding World will have a heart attack.” 

Harry chuckled too. “I can imagine,” He replied. “Headlines will be saying: ‘ _ Harry Potter being brainwashed by Draco Malfoy?! Or the other way around!?’ _ ” 

Draco rolled his eyes. “You were saying? About our marriage.” 

“Oh, right. Well, after we take each other’s names, we could live in the Grimmauld Place for a while. After I get a job as an Auror and we have enough money - you can open a little shop to sell Potions - we could move to maybe an apartment in the Muggle world for a bit, see how it is. We can get a little puppy, call him… Snuffles.” 

“Snuffles?” 

“That’s what we called Sirius when we were in public - didn’t want to attract attention by saying the name of a “criminal”. Which he wasn’t.”

“I know. And Snuffles sounds awesome.” Draco mumbled into Harry’s neck as he buried his face there, giving the signal for Harry to continue with his ideas. 

“Then we could adopt three kids! A girl and two boys. They’d be witches and wizards, of course. But I’d want to help out orphans. But before we adopt, we’ll have just the dog with us. We’ll fight over who has to take him for a walk, and then we’ll fight over who has to make dinner. Then we’d kick back on Friday evenings with a Muggle movie and popcorn, and we cuddle with a blanket.” Harry went on. “And the rest… well, I don’t want to plan everything, then we’d be here for ages and ages.” 

Draco picked up the board game carefully and placed it on the floor, gently pushing Harry off of him and turning him around so they were sitting right in front of each other.

“You thought about all of that?” Draco asked slowly. 

“Well, some of it. Most of it I just thought about it as I said it. But I do mean all of it…” Harry was embarrassed now. He looked down awkwardly.

“You’re so cute, damn it!” said Draco with an eye roll. Harry looked up immediately. “What, you think I didn’t like anything of what you just said? Harry, I want all of what you just said.” 

“Seriously?” Harry asked, biting his lip. 

“Seriously,” Draco answered genuinely. 

Then, Harry jumped forwards and pushed Draco down on the bed, hitting their lips together. The two quickly pulled apart, groaning in pain.

“Fuck, sorry!” Harry said as Draco rolled his eyes. The two took a few moments for the pain to go away. “Okay, we good now?” 

Draco nodded in response, resulting in Harry leaning forward and gently kissed him, his hands cupping Draco’s cheeks. Harry’s hands - being caught up in the moment - sneakily moved down to Draco’s trousers. 

“Ooo...kay, time to continue with the board game.” Draco said as he felt Harry’s hand brush over his crotch, suddenly feeling hormones rushing through him. He pulled away from Harry, his cheeks starting to turn a deep shade of red, sitting up and gently pushing Harry off of him. 

Confused, Harry raised an eyebrow. He looked down and saw that his hand was still on Draco’s crotch area and quickly moved his hand. 

“Oh, shit, my bad.” He said awkwardly as Draco turned away from Harry to get the board up on the bed again. 

After that, they continued on with the game until Harry inevitably won, leaving a very pissed Draco in result. Then they played cards again where Draco won and gained back his pride. The two ended their marvelous Saturday with a short nap. 

Well, it was supposed to be short. 

“Harry, wake up! Ron is going to be here any minute!” Hermione shouted as she shut the door behind her. “Thank God I checked if you were here.” Draco and Harry both woke up and quickly got out of bed, Draco looking for a place to hide. Hermione grabbed Harry’s Invisibility Cloak from the trunk of Harry’s things and threw it at Draco.

“Come on, I’ll walk you out,” Harry said with a yawn to Draco. The two quickly left the dorm and walked through the Gryffindor Common Room, and out they went. 

They reached an empty hallway and Draco took off the Cloak. “I’m good to go?” He asked after Harry looked around to see if anyone’s there. Draco started to walk. 

“Wait!” Harry whisper-shouted, which made Draco turn around and walk back to Harry.

“What? Is someone there?” He asked, getting nervous. 

“Nope,” Harry replied with a grin, leaning forward and pecking Draco’s lips. “Just wanted to do that before you go. But hey, here’s my Cloak. Just keep it, and give it back later.” 

“Harry… I’m touched.” 

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know I’m awesome. Now go!” 

*********

When Harry woke on Monday morning, he was late. Ron and the rest of his dorm mates were already ready. 

“Mate, I would’ve woken you up but you just looked like you needed the sleep. Besides it’s fine, you take like ten minutes to eat your breakfast so it’s fine.” Ron stated with a shrug. 

“Yeah, it’s fine, go eat,” Harry replied sleepily as he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

As Ron and the others left, Harry got up and went to take a shower. He planned to take only five minutes. Usually, he takes around twenty minutes to shower, but today he was running late. He then decided he would just skip breakfast and take a longer shower. 

When he got out with just a towel wrapped around his waist, he heard the door open from and footsteps.

“Ron? What are you doing here?” Harry asked distractedly as he put on his boxers quickly. He turned around and saw no one. Until Draco quickly removed the Invisibility Cloak, which made Harry jump. “Jeez!” He muttered as he turned and looked through his clothes which were inside his trunk at the end of his bed, getting out his uniform.

“Good morning to you too, love,” Draco greeted sarcastically with an eye roll, sitting down on the bed and watched as Harry put on his clothes. 

“Yeah yeah, good morning,” Harry mumbled, walking over to the bedside table to grab his glasses and fix his hair.

“Wow, your pajamas are four times your size,” Draco said. Harry turned and saw that Draco was going through Harry’s stuff. 

“Yeah, they’re my cousin’s,” Harry replied and continue to brush his hair in front of the mirror in the bathroom.  

“You’re that close with your cousin?” Draco questioned.

“Well… no. I’m kind of forced to wear those. My aunt and uncle don’t buy clothes for me. I just take Dudley’s hand me downs.” Harry answered absentmindedly. 

“They what?” Draco asked, astonished.

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal.” Harry reassured, sensing the tone in Draco’s voice. He walked out of the bathroom and chuckled. “I mean, I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I was eleven, you really expect them to buy me-”

“You fucking WHAT?” 

“Oops.” Harry had accidentally let it slip. 

“What else did they do to you?” Draco asked - well, more demanded.

“N-nothing.” Harry was now getting scared of Draco who was glaring at him.

“Harry.” Draco practically growled in a low voice.

“Nothing… just… Dudley bullied me with his friends a lot. Then when I got a wand and stuff… I threatened to use it against him a lot.” Harry admitted slowly. “Which is funny, really. Dudley is terrified of-”

“Harry, you do realize that… this is practically abuse, right?”

Harry slowly closed his mouth and didn’t say anything. 

“They locked you in the cupboard a lot, didn’t they?” Draco asked slowly.

All Harry could do was nod, feeling tears well up in his eyes. 

“Harry…” Draco paused. “I am  _ so  _ going to murder them. Just you wait, the minute I turn seventeen, I’m apparating to your house and fucking murdering-” 

Harry let out a small laugh. “You’re crazy.” 

“I’m not kidding! I’m willing to go to Azkaban for it. I don’t care. I’ll do what I can.” 

“No, you can’t go to Azkaban. Sadly enough, I won’t be able to replace you with anyone.” Harry said jokingly. “Trust me, there’s only one Draco Malfoy, and I think it’s better that way.” Then Harry winked and bit his lip seductively. 

“If you were anyone else, I would probably punch you," Draco replied with an eye roll. “But you aren’t, and that’s what makes me so hot for you right now.” 

“Wow, that took a turn I didn’t expect.” 

“What the hell did you expect then? You literally winked and bit your lip seductively. It doesn’t take any more than that for me.” Draco rolled his eyes. 

“Oh shut up and come on, we’re going to be late for class,” Harry said after checking his watch. 

It had been about a month since Draco and Harry had officially been on a date, but to them, it felt like they’d been dating for years already. The two obviously didn’t admit this to each other, though. They had already known each other for six years, which was a good thing in both of their opinions. 

The two slowly walked out of the dorm, Harry smiling and Draco still upset over the information he had just found out.

  
  
  
  
  
  


 


	11. Chapter 11

“Harry, you got out of the shower just now, right?” Draco asked as the two walked down the hallways. Lucky for them, no one was in the halls, everyone was busy eating breakfast, so they could walk freely together.

But they, of course, had to be cautious about it.

“Yeah, what about it?” Harry asked. “Why? Come on babe, if you told me you were coming in advance, we could’ve showered together.” He teased.

Draco rolled his eyes. “No, I meant you didn’t eat breakfast, right?”

“Well, yeah… but I’m fine.” Harry said with an eye roll.

“Harry, come on!” Draco snapped. “First you don’t tell me about your abusive past, then you’re skipping meals?!”

“What’s he mad about this time?” Someone asked behind them. Harry turned and grinned when he saw it was Pansy, who grinned back. She immediately caught up to Harry and started walking beside him.

“I didn’t eat breakfast,” Harry answered with an eye roll. “Relax, Draco, I’m fine.”

“No, you are not! Next thing I know, you’ll be skipping classes.” Draco scolded. “You are so out of line; not taking care of yourself, --”

Draco went on and on. Pansy rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry, this is his way of showing he cares about you. He thinks it’s better to scold you than to actually try and care about you.” Pansy whispered with a smile. Harry laughed.

“What are you girls whispering about?!” Draco snapped at the two. Harry rolled his eyes.

“Thanks for calling me a girl, darling,” Harry told him sarcastically. By now, the three had reached the classroom of Defense Against the Dark Arts. They were the first ones there. Draco and Harry went to sit in the front of the class, and Pansy went to her usual spot, somewhere in the middle row.

The class started off pretty normally. The class was set to work, but this time Harry and Draco were too focused on their work to hold hands under the table.

Harry pushed his hair back which revealed his white roots at the specific strands again. Usually, nobody noticed the white bits, but Snape did. He saw. The white strands in Harry’s hair were almost halfway to the ends of his hair. A few seconds later, Snape noticed how Draco too seemed to have a weird shade of brown in his hair.

Snape’s eyes widened a bit before he went back to his normal blank expression.

“Mr. Potter,” Snape said suddenly, causing Harry and a few others to jump. The class had been silent for a while and Snape had just broken it, a few people were bound to find it sudden. “Please stand up.”

“Uh… pardon?” Harry asked. A confused Draco looked up at Snape who was looking at him. Snape gave Draco a stern look before turning to Harry again.

“Please stand up. Someone switch seats with Mr. Potter.” Snape looked around the classroom. Harry, confused, slowly stood up.

“Blaise will switch spots with Harry, sir,” Pansy immediately piped up.

“Very well,” Snape decided. “Mr. Zabini, please switch seats with Mr. Potter.”

A confused Harry turned to look at Draco who seemed just as confused as he was. Harry quickly gathered his stuff and made his way to Pansy.

“You may continue with your work,” Snape said after all the students stared at him expectantly. “This will remain your seating arrangements until I say so.”

“What was that all about?” Pansy whispered to Harry, who shrugged.

“I really have no idea."

 

*******

“Draco,” Snape called out to him as he walked down the hallways. Draco turned and looked at Snape.

“Yes?”

“I would like to speak to you,” Snape said, motioning for Draco to follow him. It was Monday evening and everyone was going to dinner. “Do you have any idea why you’re here?”

 Draco shook his head as he sat down on the table at the front of the classroom, the table which was closest to Snape’s desk. “None.”

 “Not even the slightest?” Snape questioned.

“No,” Draco said. “Should I?” 

“I don’t know, Draco, should you?”

“Uh, that’s literally what I just asked you.” Draco didn’t feel the need to be formal with Snape. After all, Snape was always around Malfoy Manor, having meals with his family. Snape was Draco’s godfather, after all.

“Draco, are you sure there’s nothing you want to tell me?”

“Uh… yes?”

“You had your chance,” Snape told him. He turned to Draco and briefly looked through his mind, using Legilimency. “I was right.”

“Professor, did you really just do that?” Draco asked, getting angry. “You have absolutely no right to look through-”

“I do, Draco, I am your godfather.”

Draco scoffed. “Godfather? My own father doesn’t have the right to look through my mind.” Draco hissed.

“You are in a relationship with Harry Potter. End it now.” Snape demanded.

“And why on earth should I listen to you?” Draco demanded right back.

“What kind of question is that, Draco? The Dark Lord can see into Harry’s mind. What is he going to do when he sees all these memories with you? He’s going to use you to get to Harry. And your trust from The Dark Lord will be taken away. You know what he threatened to do if you don’t carry out your job.

“You must end it, Draco. If The Dark Lord finds out, you will be in big trouble, and so will your family, and so will I. And so will Harry.”

Draco bit his lip, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown, as he registered what Snape was saying.

********

When Saturday rolled around, Harry was already in the tent when Draco entered.

“Hey Draco,” Harry greeted, not looking up from the book he was reading. He was huddled up in blankets on the couch.

“Hey, Harry.” Draco murmured, sitting down at the end of the couch. Harry was lying down. He now put his feet on Draco’s lap as he continued reading. After the conversation with Snape, Draco was not able to think straight.

“Merlin, you need to read this book. Well, it’s not really your type, but it’s so good. I’m on the fifth chapter, and it’s awesome already.” Harry ranted as he finished the chapter. “Draco, you have got to read this-”

“I think we should break up.” Draco blurted. He didn’t mean to say that. Originally, he was going to tell Harry how Snape found out. Harry quickly sat up and put the book aside. Just by looking at Harry’s face, Draco could see what he had said was a huge mistake.

“What?” Harry asked. His smile had faded and his eyes had stopped sparkling. He could feel his heart beating loudly. Only one thought was circling Harry in that moment: _please don’t leave me too._ And Draco may have not known what Harry was thinking, but his heart could feel it. He could read Harry’s green eyes, and he could read how he had hurt Harry with just that one sentence.

“I just…” Draco paused. “Oh Merlin, stop looking at me like that. Okay, I can’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“Snape found out,” Draco finally said, running a hand through his hair. “And he wants me to break up with you. He said that The Dark Lord will find out by reading your mind. But you had Occlumency lessons, didn’t you? Can’t you block him out?”

“I never learned how to properly block him out, Draco,” Harry replied. “Do you really want to break up with me?”

“No, of course not!” Draco answered, and Harry let out a sigh of relief. Harry crawled over to Draco and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Harry asked as he kissed his cheek. “As if I’d let you break up with me over this. I guess we’ll have to be more careful. How did Snape even find out?”

“I have no idea, actually. He knew before he even read my mind-”

“He read your mind?!” Harry asked.

“Ow Harry, you just shouted into my ear,” Draco said with an eye roll.

“Sorry,” Harry said. “Okay, at least we know to be careful now. I really don’t want to break up with you.” Harry snuggled up against Draco, closing his eyes and feeling his warmth.

“Yeah, me too…”

But as Draco said it, he couldn’t help but feel utter shame and guilt.

Because though meant it, he knew he wasn’t being loyal. He had no choice but to lie to the one person he trusted the most.

The utter feeling of shame and guilt swirling around his chest, Draco rolled down the sleeve of his left arm where his Dark Mark was peeking out.

And now, as he felt Harry snuggling up close to him, opening up his book again and occasionally just leaning forwards and pecking him on the cheek…

All Draco wanted to do in that moment was to die, because only he knew how much he didn’t deserve the pure love from Harry.

  


  
  


 


	12. Chapter 12

Harry woke the next Monday morning feeling fine.

He actually felt fine for once. Everything in his life seemed to be balanced, and he was pretty happy about it. He had Ron and Hermione, he had Draco. For once, he didn’t feel as if anything was wrong in his life.

He got up and quickly got ready, going to breakfast with Ron, meeting Hermione at the Gryffindor as usual. He finished his breakfast quickly, then stood up and left, sneakily signaling for Draco to leave the Hall too.

Then he dragged Draco into a closet and they had a heated make-out session. Harry pulled at Draco’s collar and even bit at his neck.

Harry had given Draco his first ever hickey. The two acknowledged it but simply continued on kissing heatedly. Then, Draco gave Harry _his_ first hickey.

Thankfully, the two had given each other ‘love bites’ in secluded places, which could be easily hidden by the collars of their shirts.

The green-eyed boy left the closet with hair looking like he just got out of bed, followed by the silver-eyed boy whose tie was loosened and uniform was all crumpled up.

The next few weeks went by completely normal. Harry and Draco were doing a good job of hiding their relationship, and no one got in their way. Harry was finally getting used to things being this way.

Then one Friday, sometime in March, Harry and Draco were cuddled up in Draco’s dorm while everyone was busy eating dinner. The two were silent - but for very different reasons. Harry was busily reading and Draco - well, he was just staring at his Dark Mark.

Harry eventually noticed when Draco started poking at his arm, constantly swiping his finger across it.

Draco just hated how it would never go away. How every time he would look at it for the rest of his life, he would feel instant regret.

“Draco, do you want some of Hermione’s foundation and concealer again? I can give it to you, you know. Hermione won’t mind - hopefully.” Harry told Draco gently, shutting his book.

“What? No, no. It’s fine.” Draco told Harry. “It just washes out anyways…” He muttered to himself.

“Draco, I’m always here if you need anything, you know that right?” Harry asked, leaning upwards and kissing Draco’s cheek before intertwining their hands together.

“Y-yeah…” Draco stuttered. “Hey, um. I won’t be able to come to the tent tomorrow.”

Harry was surprised. “What? Why? We’ve been spending every Saturday like this! I haven’t spent a single Saturday on my own for the past three months!”

“You’ll be fine, Harry,” Draco reassured Harry. “I just have some work to do.”

“What work?” Harry asked nosily, looking up at Draco. Harry was practically lying on top of Draco. The two were on Draco’s bed and so tangled up in each other that they didn’t even bother to move. “Like a job?”

“Yes, Harry, I’m a part-time construction worker. I go and construct buildings for the Muggles.” Draco answered sarcastically, receiving a smack from Harry. “I just have some school work that I’m behind on.”

“But why tomorrow?” Harry asked pleadingly. Draco gave him a look that said ‘don’t make me feel bad about this’, and Harry immediately stopped whining. He turned over and leaned forwards, kissing Draco on the lips gently. Then Harry slowly moved his lips, starting to kiss Draco’s cheek, then his jawline, then his neck, nipping at it, leaving a huge love bite on his neck, before kissing where he had just bit, gently. Draco shuddered, a chill running down his spine.

Harry moved back to Draco’s lips, kissing him more roughly than before, more passionately. Their tongues were in each other’s mouth. A sudden lust dawned on the two, and soon enough, the Slytherin had turned the Gryffindor over so that he was right on top of Harry.

The two eventually stopped kissing. Not because they wanted to, but because Draco’s Dark Mark was starting to burn, and Harry’s scar was hurting too.

Draco clutched his arm and Harry put a hand to his forehead. Both of them noticed the other in pain at the same time and scrambled over to each other, Harry put his hand on Draco’s Dark Mark and Draco gently using his index finger to massage Harry’s forehead.

“Voldemort’s probably up to something.” Harry mused as he pulled up Draco’s arm to his lips, kissing it gently.

“Yeah,” Draco agreed. “Probably just trying to plan something.” He added.

“Maybe,” Harry said. The pain finally faded away for him. But the pain didn’t stop for Draco.

That’s why Draco was so glad when Pansy walked in and shooed out Harry before they were caught.

“Draco, are you okay?” Pansy asked, noticing Draco clutching his arm tightly. Then she sighed when she realized what it was. “Are you ever going to tell me what he’s making you do-”

“No. And don’t speak a word about it to Harry. He doesn’t know that I’ve actually gotten a task I need to finish.” Draco told her. Then he noticed the worry on Pansy’s face. “I’m fine, really. It’s not that big of a task.” But it was.

Pansy nodded and wished Draco a goodnight, before leaving. But she couldn’t help but regret that she didn’t press Draco for answers and to know more about the task he was given.

********

Harry spent most of his Saturday hanging out with Hermione and Ron. Though, he did feel a bit left out because Ron and Hermione were just talking amongst themselves for most of the time. Well, mostly bickering. And Harry knew better than to interrupt it.

“Ron, the dress dark purple, not blue.”

“No, I’m telling you, it’s blue!”

“No, it is not! Are you colorblind?” Hermione asked outrageously. “Harry, tell him it’s dark purple.”

“No, Harry, tell her it’s blue because it’s blue.”

“Oh, Merlin, do you seriously do this every Saturday?” Harry asked them as he shut the book he was reading. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances and turned to look at Harry, not saying anything. Hermione clutched the dress in her hands as she rolled her eyes at Ron.

“For the record, it’s dark blue,” Harry said as he opened up his book again to continue reading.

“Told you!” Ron said with a grin. And for once, Hermione grinned right back.

“Well… alright then.” Hermione replied, admitting she was wrong. Ron absentmindedly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Harry immediately smirked but hid it with his book, pretending to be reading intently.

The three hung out in the Gryffindor Common Room for most of the day. Thankfully for Harry, Hermione and Ron stopped bickering after the color incident, as he wished. But, he thought maybe he was better off when they were bickering because now he felt like an immense third wheel.

Ron and Hermione didn’t think they were doing anything particularly romantic that would make Harry feel like a third wheel. But then again, they didn’t think they were making Harry feel like a third wheel at all.

“This was the dullest Saturday ever,” Harry stated as the three walked down the hallway to go to dinner.

“Mate, you call your other Saturdays interesting? For the past three months, you’ve been ditching ‘Mione and me to go study. You call that interesting?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione gave Harry a look as if to say ‘wow, that’s the best you can come up with?’.

“Well, yes. I study with Luna sometimes and she always makes things interesting. Sometimes she takes me to the Ravenclaw door and I try to figure out the answer to the question the door asks.” Harry lied smoothly. “Really tricky riddles, honestly. It’s fun, but I never get the answer right of course.”

Ron rolled his eyes in response. They entered the Great Hall and Harry walked straight ahead. Hermione had just started talking to Harry and Ron about a certain assignment they had for Potions.

When they made it to the Gryffindor table, Harry turned to the Slytherin table to make sure Draco was there.

He wasn’t.

Harry took in a sharp breath and slowly turned back to the table, sitting down and starting to eat. Around ten minutes later, Harry was almost done with his meal when he turned again, just to check if Draco was there. Sure enough, by now, Draco was sat in between Blaise and Pansy, picking at his food. He seemed to be listening to what Pansy was saying.

“Harry’s staring at you,” Pansy told Draco.

“Really now?” Draco asked with a slight smirk, not looking up from his food.

“Yes. Now pretend to laugh at something I just said.” Pansy ordered.

“What? Why?”

“You need to pretend to be in deep conversation. Then slowly look up - casually - and stare into his eyes with a smile. It’ll get him flustered.” Pansy explained. “Now, laugh.”

Draco stared at Pansy for a few seconds. Then he slowly laughed a bit when Pansy hit his stomach from under the table. Then he slowly looked up at Harry who was still staring at him.

Their eyes met, and Draco forgot what he was supposed to do. He instantly just found himself staring at Harry’s cute face as he pouted slightly (he was upset that Draco was enjoying himself without Harry) and continued staring at Draco.

After a few moments, Draco awkwardly cleared his throat and looked down, before quickly eating his food and leaving the hall. Harry took it as a signal to eat his food as possible too, quickly leaving too.

“Hey, Harry,” Draco greeted. Harry turned and smiled when he heard Draco behind him. “Okay, go to your dorm. I’ll be right there.”

“But you don’t know the password to-”

“Run along, now.” Draco pushed Harry in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower, not giving him time to ask him anything. Harry, confused, walked to his dorm as Draco told him to do so.

Harry entered and sat down. It had been five minutes and Draco wasn’t here yet. Harry decided to just change into his pajamas. He took off his shirt and was about to pull on his very oversized t-shirt, when-

“UH, I don’t think so.” A voice firmly said behind Harry. Harry turned around, shirtless, and confused. Draco held a box in his hand. Not a plain old cardboard box. A bright, red box, with a big gold bow on top of it.

“What?” Harry asked confused when Draco eagerly smiled, walking over to Harry and handing him the box. “Draco, you didn’t have to-”

“Shut up and open it,” Draco ordered, still managing to seem sweet as he said it. Harry slowly opened the box and inside were silk pajamas. Harry slowly took one set out and looked at it.

“Are these yours?” Harry asked, noticing the initials ‘D.M.’ on the left side of the silk pajama shirt.

“I thought of maybe buying you your own. But I thought it’d make you feel comfortable if you were wearing something that was mine,” Draco mumbled, turning slightly pink. “I have like ten pairs left anyway… and that’s only here. Back home I think I have around thirty.”

“Draco… I’m so sorry, I didn’t get you anything-”

“This is not a gift exchange sort of thing. I don’t want anything, nor do I expect you to give me something in return. I gave this to you because you’re my boyfriend and you deserve to be treated with love at random times by me.” Draco cut him off. All Harry could do was giggle slightly. “What? Did I say something funny?”

“No, no! What you said was perfect. Just… ‘boyfriend’... I didn’t know we could call each other that.”

“Are you kidding? What do you want me to call you?” Draco asked sarcastically. “Yes, Harry is my person-who-I’ve-been-dating-for-the-past-three-months.”

“Whatever works for you,” Harry said with a laugh, leaning over and kissing Draco on the lips deeply, then slowly taking the shirt and putting it on, then taking off his pants to put on the silk ones, bending over to pick it up when it slipped from his hands.

Draco immediately took this as the perfect chance to check out Harry’s arse. It was just as cute as he thought, definitely. He watched as Harry put on the silk pants, feeling a little disappointed that he couldn’t stare at Harry’s arse anymore.

“I think it’s a little big for me,” Harry stated (completely oblivious to the fact that Draco had been checking him out) , looking down at the silk pants’ ends that were under his feet because they were too long for him.

“Yeah, they measured my perfect size and made it accordingly,” Draco said a little ashamedly. “But other than that, it’s soft and beautiful, right?” Draco made sure.

“It’s soft and comforting, because it smells like you, Dray.”

“Dray?” Draco asked with a short laugh.

“Oh… sorry. I just felt like calling you Dray.” Harry said. He found himself staring deep into Draco’s silver eyes.

He loved it so much. Harry was so grateful to have someone as beautiful as Draco. And he didn’t mean on the outside (Draco was very attractive on the outside too). Harry meant Draco’s kind heart. The cold exterior that Draco had put up all those years had finally been broken, and Harry felt so happy about it.

He felt happy that he was one of the people who could see Draco’s real side.

Draco just smiled in return. “Okay, so there are two more here. I thought you might like the simple colors: green, black and red.” Draco explained. Harry was wearing the black set currently. “The green and red one don’t have my initials, so it might be better if you wear those. Don’t want your nosy friends asking questions. Well since Granger already knows you can tell her.” Draco was talking very quickly. He seemed to be very into what he was saying. Harry was listening to every word carefully. The two sat down on Harry’s bed, where the box currently was. They both turned to face the box as Draco continued speaking.

“I also have a darker shade of green if this is too bright for you. The red one… well, red is my favorite color so I couldn’t give you my favorite red one, so you’ll have to settle with maroon. But Harry, if you ever want another set, just tell me. I’ll give you one.”

Harry didn’t know it was possible to be so attracted to someone.

“Uh… Harry? You haven’t said anything for the past three minutes.” Draco told him awkwardly.

“Hmm? Oh!” Harry snapped out of his dream, feeling a little embarrassed. “Sorry. Lost myself for a second. What were you saying?” Harry asked, turning a little pink as he sheepishly smiled at Draco.

Draco rolled his eyes (but he was grinning at how cute Harry was). “I said if you ever want another set, tell me,” Draco repeated himself, now carefully closing the box which had the other two sets, stowing it away under Harry’s bed.

Draco turned back to Harry who literally pounced on him, not to kiss him, but to hug him tightly.

Draco let out a squeal, unprepared as the two fell off the bed, rolling on the ground. But Harry didn’t let go. He tightly hugged Draco until he was forced to hug Harry back.

“I can’t breathe,” Draco told Harry dramatically. Harry rolled his eyes and slowly sat up, letting go of Draco, who gave Harry a very offended look.

“What?”

“What the hell, Scarface? Come back here and hold me, I’m cold.”

“You literally just told me to let go of you.”

“No, I told you that I couldn’t breathe.”

“I thought that meant you wanted me to let go of you.”

“No, it didn’t!” Draco protested. He slowly got up and sat down on Harry’s bed. “Now, come here.”

Harry groaned but did as Draco said, crawling onto his lap in his new comfortable pajamas, giving Draco a very sloppy and wet peck on his lips.

The two cuddled until Draco left before everyone was done with dinner. After Harry thanked Draco again (which Draco responded with a smack and told him not to thank him), they wished each other a good night.

But for Draco, his night wasn’t over yet. And it sure as hell wasn’t going to be a good one.

*******

The next Saturday was almost just as the dull as the last. It was Ron’s birthday, so it was definitely more interesting than the Saturday before.

“Harry, did you do your Potions homework?” Hermione asked, breaking the silence that was between the three as they sat in the library. Ron and Harry looked up from their textbooks.

“Hmm? No. Oops.” Harry realized, quickly fumbling around, looking for his Potions textbook, getting it out. “I reckon I should do it now, right?”

Ron and Hermione, who’s eyebrows were raised when they had watched Harry struggling to find his stuff, nodded.

“Uh… what did we have to do again?” Harry asked embarrassedly. Hermione rolled her eyes and got out a plain piece of paper, starting to explain the assignment to Harry. But something caught Harry’s eye when he looked at his textbook.

_Sectumsempra: for enemies._

“Harry? Oh, come on!” Hermione snapped annoyedly, realizing that he wasn’t even listening.

“What? Oh, sorry. You were saying?”

Hermione repeated her explanation of what the assignment was, and Harry got to work.

Later on in the day, Ron accidentally ate chocolates that were meant for Harry and they had to go to Slughorn. And then, Ron got poisoned.

Harry sat in the hospital wing, watching as Lavender came all over Ron (who was sleeping and had no idea what was going on). Then Hermione came and took a hold of Ron’s hand. Harry found it cute and all, but he really just missed Draco.

So he stood up and left when it was safe to do so, walking down the empty hallways.

“Hey.” A voice spoke behind Harry. He turned to see silver eyes staring at him, a smile on the blond’s face but quickly fading when he noticed Harry wasn’t smiling. He looked around and then dragged Harry to a nearby broom closet. “Everything okay?”

“Well… today’s Ron’s birthday, as you know. It was supposed to be really great, but he ate some chocolates that were for me - and they ended up having a love potion in them. So I had to take him to Slughorn-”

“Wait, someone was trying to get you to fall in love with them?” Draco asked, getting annoyed. “Who?”

“That’s really beside the poin-”

“ _Who_?!"

“Romilda Vane, for Christ’s sake!” Harry cried out, annoyed.

“Christ?” Draco asking, blinking in confusion. “Well, whatever. Romilda Vane, that bitch better watch the fuck-”

“Calm down, it doesn’t matter. So we got the potion off of Ron and then Slughorn gave us this drink, I don’t really know what it was. But he gave it to us and he started making a toast but by then Ron had already taken a sip and,” Harry had been talking so fast that he stopped to take a breath, “Ron was poisoned. He literally almost died!”

“Drink? What drink?” Draco asked, his eyes widening. “Slughorn had it?”

“I think he mentioned something about meaning to give it to Dumbledore or something, but that isn’t important, what’s important is-” Harry went on a long rant, but Draco’s ears were suddenly closed. He knew immediately what the drink was. Breaking eye contact from Harry, he looked down at his feet, guilt and resentment hitting his chest.

“--And I just find it ridiculous that Romilda wanted to smuggle me a love potion. She’s really so annoying. Draco, are you okay? Is something wrong?” Harry asked, suddenly noticing that Draco looked on the verge of tears.

“Oh, um, I’m fine.” But his voice was cracked and all he wanted to do was die. He was a horrible person. A disgusting, revolting person. That’s what he thought of himself, at least.

“Are you sure? I’m sorry, I’ve just been talking about myself, haven’t I. What’s up with you?” Harry asked. “Any Death Eater work I can help out with?” he joked.

Draco finally turned to look back at Harry, his silver eyes gleaming with tears, screaming for help, frowning profusely. His eyes were screaming, shouting, for Harry to just _understand that he was in so much pain_.

But his lips let out a laugh, his mouth forcing a smile.

“Sorry, shouldn’t have joked about that,” Harry said, immediately sensing how he had stepped over a line, looking down at his feet awkwardly.

“No, it’s no big deal,” Draco said though the tears were already spilling down his face.

He couldn’t mask it anymore.

“No, it is. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Draco managed to say.

Just as Harry looked up, Draco had opened the door, hiding his face away from Harry.

“I need to get back to work, I’ll see you later.”

“Wait, Draco!” But before Harry could even finish his sentence, Draco had already left and he was long gone by the time Harry got out of the broom closet. Harry sighed. He knew that something was definitely up with Draco.

********

That night, Harry got out his map. He had searched the hallways before dinner but couldn’t find Draco. He hadn’t shown up to dinner.

Harry looked at the map, scanning through every place he could possibly be. But his name was nowhere to be found. Harry saw Pansy’s name, Crabbe and Goyle’s name, and even Blaise’s. If Draco was studying, why wasn’t he at the library or in his dorm or Common Room? Or even with one of his friends?

And suddenly, it hit him.

Harry closed the map and stowed it away, exiting his dorm, not even paying attention to Dean and Seamus who were asking him where he was going.

_It really can’t be. I mean, come on. What Death Eater work would he even be doing in the Room of Requirement? Besides, he would tell me if he was being asked to do Death Eater work, I asked him to and he told me he would._

Harry’s thoughts were scrambled.

_Draco’s probably just studying in private. After all, he does like to keep to himself._

Harry walked to where he had seen the Room of Requirement last. He stared at the blank wall and slowly thought to himself.

_I need to find Draco._

Harry got nothing. He sighed. He thought again.

_I need to find Draco Malfoy._

It didn’t work. So he tried, five times more. But it didn’t work. Harry sighed in defeat, turning around, starting to walk away.

But that’s when he heard something behind him.

Harry turned to see where what used to be a blank wall, there was a door. Draco was really in the Room of Requirement. Harry took in a deep breath before slowly entering.

He looked around, eventually walking deeper into the room. After a few minutes, he eventually found a blond head in the dark, only one candle on the table beside him.

“Draco?”

The boy almost fell over from the sudden noise, dropping everything that was in his hands, turning to face Harry.

“H...Harry, what… what are you doing here?” Draco stuttered, standing right in front of something that looked like a closet, so Harry wouldn’t see it.

“Oh, well, you just ran out on me this afternoon, and you didn’t show up for dinner, and I didn’t find you in the Marauder’s Map, and-”

“You were stalking me?” Draco normally wouldn’t have minded. In fact, he would have been pleased. But not in this situation. In this situation, it was perhaps the worst thing possible.

“I wouldn’t call it stalking. I was just worried about you. You’ve seemed a bit weird lately.” Harry told him. “Uh, you told me you had to study? What are you doing right now?” Harry asked, finally paying attention to the things around Draco.

Draco couldn’t think of anything, anything at all. He hung his head low and tried to think.

When Draco had finally come up with something, he looked up, opening his mouth to speak, but no words came out, not when he saw the look on Harry’s face when realization hit him.

Harry couldn’t speak. He had to be wrong. He _had_ to be.

“You…” Harry’s eyes were widened, his green eyes glinting with tears ever so slightly.

“Harry, please, give me a chance to explain-”

“You… you…” Harry cut him off. He was refusing to believe it. “No, no, it can’t be. Tell me you’re joking. Tell me this is a big, cruel joke.”

All Draco could do was look down in shame.

“Were you ever planning on telling me, or what?” Harry spoke after a few moments. His tone was icy; having zero sympathy nor emotion.

“H...Harry, I can explain. Please, just listen-”

“To what? More of your bullshit? For all I know, you’ve been playing me this whole time,” Harry snapped, “as more Death Eater work.”

“Harry, how could you even think that?”

“How could you not tell me? Are you on his side? I thought I told you to tell me-”

“Not everything is about you!” Draco shouted suddenly, clenching his fists in anger.

“Yes, it’s not like Voldemort’s trying to kill me or anything. And it’s not as if you’re helping him do so.”

“I’m not!” Draco protested. “Harry, please, just listen. Let me explain-”

“You don’t need to explain.” Harry cut him off. “This is what you’ve been spending the past few weeks doing, haven’t you? Canceling Saturdays, not coming to class? I’m not stupid. I knew something was up. I just… can’t believe it was this.”

“Harry, stop-”

“No, you stop!” Harry bellowed. “I can’t trust you anymore.”

Tears were starting to spill down Draco’s cheeks as the words echoed into his brain. “Harry, please, no.”

“I can’t deal with this. I can’t-” Harry paused, trying to form a sentence amidst of trying not to cry. “I trusted you, with absolutely everything.”

“And there’s no need to regret that-”

“Stop talking. Just…” Harry closed his eyes for a few seconds, a few tears falling down his face.

He felt betrayed. Another person had left him, a person he trusted deeply. There was an unbearable feeling dawning on Harry’s chest.

“Just…” Harry repeated, unable to finish his sentence. He turned around and walked, the pain in his chest hurting so, so much.

Harry heard the echo of Draco calling after him, he felt the tears spilling down his cheeks, he felt his legs walking away and away, far away from Draco.

 

  
  
  
  
  



	13. Chapter 13

Harry lied awake in his bed that night. 

It was only around nine when Harry came storming into his dorm after the incident, immediately shutting the curtains of his four-poster bed and turning all the lights off, going into bed. 

His dorm mates just assumed he had turned in early that night.

However, Harry didn’t sleep. He didn’t sleep at all. The only thing that kept him from losing touch to reality, was the heavy feeling on his chest. 

As the morning slowly came, Harry didn’t move from his bed. He heard as his dorm mates eventually got up one by one, each of them going to breakfast after waiting for each other. They didn’t bother to wake up Harry, he was usually a responsible person who didn’t need to be woken up. 

Harry didn’t move from his bed at all, for most of the day. He stayed in the same position, hidden behind his curtains, his face emotionless, his mind blank.

He had been betrayed again. It shouldn’t have hurt this much. Harry found it abnormal that he was just in so much pain.

He guessed it was because when the person you least expected betrays you, it hurts you all the more. 

During the day, Harry heard as his dorm mates came inside the dorm every now and then to grab their stuff. Thankfully for Harry, none of them hung out in the dorm all day. 

Harry had no sense of time, though. He didn’t know what time of day it was. He heard the door open but didn’t let it bother him, turning to lie on his side. He had been on the bed for about sixteen hours. But he hadn’t had even an ounce of sleep. 

“Harry?” A voice gently called from the door. “Dean and Seamus said that they tried calling out to you, but you didn’t answer them. They said you’ve been in bed since last night.” 

Harry didn’t recall hearing anyone calling him earlier in the day. But then again, he wasn’t exactly paying attention to what was around him.

“Harry?” The voice said again. 

Giving up, Hermione opened the curtains of Harry’s four poster bed, leaning forward to shake Harry. 

“Harry, answer me.”

Harry incoherently mumbled something along the lines of “I thought you were Draco”, but Hermione didn’t understand what he was saying. He eventually snapped into reality when Hermione reached over to grab his glasses and handing it to him. “Oh, um. Good morning, Hermione.” 

“It’s five P.M.” 

“Well then, good evening, Hermione,” Harry told her, slowly standing up, and ending up almost falling over. Hermione squealed slightly when he did so. “Sorry, I haven’t stood in about eighteen hours.” 

“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked. “I’ve never seen you like this before.” Hermione, of course, could immediately tell. She saw the blank look on Harry’s face, the spark in his green eyes gone. 

“Nothing, nothing. Just a very sleepless night.” Harry covered up. “I think I’ll skip dinner-” 

“Like hell, you will! Now go to the bathroom and get ready.” 

“But after dinner, I’ll be going to bed anyways-”

“Harry.” Hermione cut him off, giving him a demeaning look with a glare, making Harry immediately run into the bathroom to get ready. He changed into random clothes that he found in his trunk and met Hermione in the Gryffindor Common Room right on time for dinner.

“How’s Ron doing?” Harry asked as they walked down the hall. 

“Better, better. He’ll be there for classes tomorrow.” Hermione told Harry, who nodded.

Harry stopped right in front of the doors of the Great Hall. “You know, I’m not all that hungry-”

But Hermione had grabbed a hold of his wrist, tightly gripping on it as she opened the door and practically marched in. Pretty much noticed, but Harry wanted to die a little. 

Once again, out of habit, his eyes moved to the Slytherin table, finding himself involuntarily searching for Draco. 

Draco was seated in between Pansy and Blaise, staring at the food on his plate but not eating. Harry noticed that the food on his plate was untouched.

“Harry! Stop walking so slowly.” Hermione complained, causing Draco to look up. Harry turned away from the Slytherin, to Hermione just before they could make eye contact - Harry not realizing that Draco was now looking at him. 

“Uh, hello? You’re the one who’s holding my wrist? And very tightly, I must say. Loosen the grip a little, will you?” 

Hermione completely let go of Harry, causing him to trip over his own foot, not expecting for her to do that. She rolled her eyes and sat down at the Gryffindor table and Harry clenched his fists in annoyance, turning to the Slytherin table, sighing at the Slytherins who were now laughing at him as he joined Hermione at the table.

Harry’s eyes moved to Draco’s, who was staring at him so intensely. 

Draco felt horrible. He too hadn’t slept a wink the night before, but for different reasons. 

Guilt, resentment, hate.

Guilt for betraying Harry. Resentment for having a father who dragged him all into this Death Eater mess; and hate towards Lord Voldemort himself. 

“Harry, eat,” Hermione ordered, getting annoyed with him. She dumped a lot of food on his plate. But Harry didn’t eat even a bit of it. He tried to take a bite but immediately felt like puking, so he pushed the plate away and replaced his with someone who was finished with their food and left to make sure Hermione didn’t get upset.

After dinner, Hermione immediately dragged Harry to his dorm and put him to bed, pulling the covers over him, and closing the curtains. 

“Sleep. You need it.” Hermione told him, poking her head in through one of the curtains. 

“Alright,” Harry told her. 

“Harry, don’t take me for a fool,” Hermione assured him. “When you wake up tomorrow morning, you’re letting me know what happened.”

“Nothing happened!” Harry lied very unsmoothly, his voice going a bit high pitched.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Don’t even try lying.” She said with a scoff. Then she wished him a good night and left, perhaps to go to Ron, Harry didn’t know though. 

As much as Harry tried to listen to his friend’s orders, he couldn’t sleep at all the next day too. 

All Harry could do was feel more pain as he replayed what had happened in his head over and over again, crying silently through the night as his friends surrounding him slept soundly, unaware of the boy’s pain. 

*********

Harry sat up, his mind groggy. He hadn’t slept at all. 

Not even a wink of sleep. 

Harry slowly stood up, getting ready for class. His head felt dizzy, as he stumbled while trying to walk through the door to the Common Room. Hermione was already up, sitting down, she looked up from her book and stared at him. 

“Harry.”

“Harry.”

“Harry. Harry Potter.” Hermione repeated, starting to get very annoyed by now. “Harry James Potter!” 

“For the love of God, what is it?!” Harry snapped back. 

“Did you sleep last night?” Hermione asked after rolling her eyes at him.

“Does it look like it?” He replied, swiftly losing the energy to argue back.

Hermione bit her lip before shutting her book and placing it beside her. “What happened?” She asked carefully. 

“Nothing.” 

“Does it have to do with Draco?” 

Harry shuddered at the mention of his name. “I’m going to breakfast,” Harry told her, and before she could reply, he had already walked away. 

Harry left the Common Room, having no idea where to go. He was definitely not going to breakfast - it was too early and the Great Hall wasn’t even open yet. Other than that, Harry didn’t feel hungry at all. 

Harry found himself exiting the castle and going near the lake, where the entrance of the Forbidden Forest was. He entered and walked into the forest. He remembered the last time he had walked through here, he was with Draco.

Draco, being Draco, was complaining about how cold it was and how his legs were tired, and they had bickered all the way to the tent. 

Harry found himself in the tent only minutes later. But he didn’t enter. As soon as he had reached the tent he turned around and walked back. 

Harry had lost a sense of time because, by the time he exited the Forest, the bell rung from the Clock Tower and Harry didn’t even have his books with him. 

Ten minutes later, a panting Harry entered the classroom of Defense Against the Dark Arts, much to Snape’s amusement. As usual, he deducted twenty points from Gryffindor, but Harry wasn’t even paying attention. He slowly made his way to his seat beside Pansy, who was staring at him intently. 

“What happened?” She asked immediately as Snape left the classroom to get something.

“Um, what?” 

“Oh come on, you’re not looking too great, and Draco is barely surviving. What happened between you two?”

“Noth-”

“Look, Draco’s a huge pr-” 

“Pansy,  _ nothing happened _ ! Let. It. Go.” 

“No.  _ You  _ let it go.” Pansy replied. “Draco’s doing horrible! Have you seen him lately? He’s been-” 

“PANSY, I DON’T GIVE A SINGLE SHIT.” Harry practically shouted, causing everyone who was chattering away to stop immediately. He awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away from Pansy, turning to his work. 

Snape didn’t say anything as he entered, even though he acknowledged his outburst. 

But what Harry had said was, of course, a complete lie. Now that Pansy had told him that Draco was doing horrible, there was just more to think about. Did Draco feel bad? Or was Pansy just lying? How much could Harry trust Pansy anyway, after all, she was one of Draco’s best friends. She was probably in on what Draco was doing. 

A part of Harry felt really bad as he thought that.

********

Harry was at the dinner hall - dragged by Ron and Hermione. He wasn’t actually eating, mostly just watching his friends eat. Just doing that made him feel full. 

“Hey, Harry.” Ginny greeted as she sat down beside him. 

“Hmm,” Harry said as he stared down at his plate.

“Harry, I want to talk to you,” Ginny told him.

“I’m all ears,” Harry replied in the most sarcastic way possible, but Ginny didn’t take notice. 

“I just… I don’t know if you know, but Dean and I got back together two weeks ago.” 

“Absolutely awesome.” Harry disinterestedly replied. 

“And… I just broke up with him this morning. I don’t really like him at all.”

“That’s such a shame.” 

“I don’t like him because… I like someone else.” 

“Yeah."

“Harry… have you ever started to like someone you never thought you would like?” 

Harry immediately thought of Draco. “Definitely.” 

“That’s what’s happening right now, for me. Isn’t it wonderful?” Ginny asked with a smile. Harry looked up and turned to the Slytherin table, his eyes falling on Draco who was looking in the other direction.

He could see that his face had taken a more green shade, and his demeanor was thin and fragile.

“Not the best at times,” Harry told her honestly, frowning deeply. 

“Why so?” 

“Because I messed up. We messed up.”

“We?” Ginny asked, her face lighting up.

“Yes. The person I like and I messed up.” Harry told her. 

“Well, I can help.” 

“I really don’t think-” 

“Harry. Let me help.” Ginny said kindly. 

“Oh fine. What do I do, then?” 

“Well. If you did something wrong, apologize to her. If she did something wrong, ask her why. If both of you had a fight and are equally in the wrong, talk it out.” 

“Talk it out,” Harry repeated with a scoff, still staring at Draco. “Yeah, I really don’t think so.”

“It couldn’t hurt to try,” Ginny told him. Harry at this point was getting a little annoyed with her, so he just nodded and told her would try. 

Then Harry stood up and left the Great Hall. 

*******

The next morning, Hermione quickly finished up her breakfast and practically marched over to the Slytherin table, to Pansy Parkinson. 

“I need to talk to you,” Hermione said as she looked at Draco for a few seconds, before turning her eyes to Pansy. “Come on then.” She ordered. “Remember that assignment we got assigned to do together?” She lied when all the Slytherins gave her a demeaning glare. Pansy quickly stood up and together they exited the Hall. 

Hermione and Pansy walked outside to the lake, both of them were silent. There was nothing other than the sounds of their boots against the hard ground. It was a gloomy day with a deathly serious atmosphere.

“So, what did you need to talk about?” Pansy asked, breaking the silence. 

“I think you sort of know,” Hermione told her with a sigh.

“Sorry, I wanted to see how much you knew already. Guess Draco wasn’t lying when he said Harry filled you in.” Pansy muttered, brushing loose strands of hair away to the side.

Hermione smiled slightly. “Well, what happened? Do you have any idea?” Hermione asked. “Harry hasn’t been sleeping, nor eating.” 

“Neither has Draco, the mess these two have gotten in has gone too far… to be honest with you, I think Draco’s been put up to some Death Eater work and Harry found out. But I can’t be too sure, Harry told Draco he trusted that Draco wasn’t on You-Know-Who’s side.”

“What? Draco’s a... Death Eater? But Harry said…” Hermione started but then sighed. “It all makes sense in a way now. The way they were acting... I saw Harry carry a huge jar filled with this weird sludge once. That was for the mark, wasn’t it?”

Pansy facepalmed. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath. “Yes, it was. Look, don’t think that Draco’s a bad guy. Really. He doesn’t want to be doing that Death Eater stuff at all, h-”

“Yeah, I  _ know _ . It’s strange but I saw the way Draco was, and I don’t think he was acting.” 

“We need to figure out what happened. Or at least, find a way for them to talk to each other.” Pansy said firmly while leaning a little closer to Hermione. The air had an unnatural chill that flushed their cheeks.  

“Oh, I didn’t know you two were friends,” A casual voice said. Hermione and Pansy turned to see Luna Lovegood smiling at them curiously.

“We’re not.” Pansy and Hermione said at the same time, before scoffing at each other. 

“Very well then. You know my father once said that you always find a friend in someone you wouldn’t expect.” Luna told them with a smile. “So what were you two talking about if you aren’t friends?” Luna asked, well aware that she was being nosy.

“Well, um… Harry’s having… er… girlfriend problems.” Hermione lied.

“I didn’t know that Harry was straight,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow. Hermione and Pansy exchanged glances.

“Uh, what?” Hermione asked Luna. “You thought Harry was gay?”

Luna simply gave her a discerning look. “Isn’t he?” Luna asked knowingly. 

“Well… uh…” Hermione struggled to answer. She turned to Pansy, hoping she would answer.  To her dismay, Pansy suddenly looked very interested in a nearby duck that was waddling around, which was completely unaware of the serious situation. “Pansy.” Hermione snapped annoyedly.

“Hermione, it’s okay really. You didn’t tell me so Harry shouldn’t get mad that I figure it out myself.” Luna assured her. Luna sighed and turned her gaze to the duck as well. “Isn’t it lucky? It has no idea what’s going on in the world. About Voldemort, or the Death Eaters, or anything, really.” 

“Luna, we’re kind of in the middle of a discussion, you know,” Hermione told her with a secret eye roll. 

“Let her finish, Granger, it looks like she’s thought things through,” Pansy said, seeming to be staring at Luna.     
“Thank you, Pansy,” Luna replied staring right back. Pansy immediately looked away. “You shouldn’t force Draco or Harry to talk to each other. That will simply make things worse. Instead, try comforting Draco and Harry and slightly  _ nudge _ them  together. We can figure the rest out from there. Don’t tell them what to do, it will just make them annoyed and even more upset.” 

To Hermione and Pansy’s surprise, Luna seemed to know what she was talking about. 

  
  
  
  


 


	14. Chapter 14

It had been two weeks since Harry had spoken to Draco. In fact, it had been two weeks since Harry had eaten anything properly, or slept. 

It was a bright Monday morning, way too bright for Harry. He could practically hear the birds chirping from outside the castle as he walked down the hall. Harry was getting a huge headache - he had been for the past week. It was probably due to the lack of sleep. 

Harry walked into the Great Hall slowly and down beside Hermione. Ron was on the other side of Hermione. Harry, as usual, didn’t eat. He got out a textbook to study while he waited for Ron and Hermione to finish eating. He starting reading but couldn’t focus. Everyone around him was being way too loud, and it was starting to hurt his ears. 

Harry suddenly noticed that he wasn’t even able to read because of this. He snapped into a daydream for a few seconds before the sound of someone dropping a spoon got him back to reality, causing him to jump. 

“Harry, are you okay?” Hermione asked, noticing how he had jumped. Harry slowly turned to look at her, his expression blank, the circles under his eyes so dark someone could’ve mistaken them for bruises. 

“I’m… going to… study somewhere else.” Harry said slowly. Lately, he hadn’t even been able to speak properly - he did everything in slow motion. Harry slowly picked up his textbook and walked down the Great Hall.

Suddenly, all of the noise around Harry was a distant echo, and he was finding it hard to see properly. Harry felt himself lose balance and fall to the floor face first. Several of the Slytherins laughed, as Harry had fallen right next to them. Although Slytherin was laughing, the rest of the houses had a scattered snicker coming from each table, but people were more worried than finding it funny. 

Hermione, who was busy chewing away on a piece of toast, almost choked when she turned to see what everyone was staring at. Hermione turned and exchanged glances with Ron, before standing up when she realized that Harry wasn’t going to stand up anytime soon. 

“Harry? Harry, can you hear me?” A distant voice echoed as he felt himself being turned to lie on the floor on his back.

And that’s all Harry had felt, seen or heard until everything went black. 

********

“I knew he hadn’t been eating for a while. Every time I asked him, he said he’d already eaten. I shouldn’t have let him be. How could I have let it come to this?” Hermione asked, tears welling up in her eyes. 

“Hermione, it’s not your fault. Really.” Pansy reassured her, sympathetically placing a hand on her shoulder as they walked down the hallway. At this point, the two didn’t care about what others thought. They walked everywhere they wanted together freely. “Draco hadn’t been eating for a few days either until I forced him to. Now whenever I notice he isn’t eating he shoves a bunch of food onto his plate and eats it in three bites.” 

Hermione frowned. “God damn it! Why did we have to wait? I shouldn’t have let it come to this!” She said, clenching her fists. “Madame Pomfrey says that he fainted due to lack of sleep.” 

“And this was a week ago?” Pansy asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yeah, he’s been out ever since. He woke up yesterday but Madame Pomfrey immediately gave him food and a sleeping potion for him directly after.” Hermione explained. 

Hermione and Pansy entered the Hospital Wing, going to Harry’s bed. It was quite late at night. Hermione and Pansy sat down on two chairs beside the bed, not noticing that Harry was wide awake.

Hermione turned to Harry and jumped when he sat up. “Hi.” He said in a hoarse voice. 

“Harry, what are you doing up?” Hermione scolded. “The sleeping potion is supposed to be really strong, Madame Pomfrey told me that it would last up to two days.” 

“Annoying dreams.” Harry murmured as Hermione got the potion from the bedside table and forcefully made him drink it. 

“Annoying dreams? I thought the potion gives you good dreams.” Hermione asked, confused. Harry nodded.

“They do.” He muttered, getting a bit drowsy. The potion took around ten minutes to give effect. 

“What type of dreams do you have?” Pansy asked. Harry lay down on the bed, shutting his eyes involuntarily. 

“Ones with... Draco in them…” Harry mumbled.

“What are you doing in the dream?” Hermione asked. 

“We’re living together… we have a small dog… and… Draco’s making me pancakes.” Harry chuckled drowsily. “He sucks at making pancakes… but it’s fine. I pretend that I like them. Then… we go out for dinner and I propose… and I’m finally…”

“Finally what?” 

“Finally able to tell him I love him…” 

With that, Harry fell into a deep sleep, instantly forgetting everything that had just happened. 

He couldn’t be sure, but several hours later, he was going in and out of consciousness. He felt a warm hand holding his, and he heard someone whimpering in pain, and he felt something that tasted like salt water fall onto his lips. 

“I love you.” A distant voice whispered softly, as Harry felt the hand let go, and a blurry shadow walking away from his bed. 

“I love you too,” Harry whispered back. He had no idea who it was, nor whether or not he was dreaming or not. But his mind held a long-lasting hope that it was a certain boy with white hair and silver eyes.

The next time Harry woke up, he was surrounded by bright lights and food being shoved his way, tons of questions being asked by Madame Pomfrey. 

“When was the last time you ate before you passed out? When was the last time you slept before you passed out? When was the last time you got sick? Hold on, I think I have a good potion to help…” 

But nothing helped Harry’s fever. Not even a strong potion that Madame Pomfrey requested Slughorn to make for him.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was doing almost just as bad. His heart constantly felt like he had been stabbed by the same knife twenty six times, and his chest constantly held a pain that clouded his mind. 

He was absolutely worried sick, and he completely blamed himself. After all, it was his fault. His fault for lying, betraying, and breaking Harry.

It was his fault for falling in love with someone that he didn’t deserve. 

Every single day after Harry had found him, was just so much work. Draco constantly ignored everyone, constantly didn’t pay attention in class. His chest, his heart, hurt so much, and so did his Dark Mark. 

It felt as if a Dementor was sucking all the happiness out of him, feeding off of it, only leaving him behind with absolute pain. 

“Draco, stop daydreaming and pay attention. You need to finish studying.” Pansy told him, looking up from her textbook. The two were sitting at a table in the library, across from each other. It was around eleven at night. 

“I don’t want to study,” Draco complained with a sigh as he set his book down, only to be forced by Pansy to start reading again. 

On the other side of the castle, Harry was seated in his bed, being forced to eat by Ron and Hermione. 

“I’m full,” Harry said after taking a bite out of the food. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Harry, eat before I shove that food down your throat.” Hermione threatened, glaring at him. Harry rolled his eyes in response, continuing to eat. The atmosphere was icy; dull. Everything was just so depressing. Ron looked really sad, Hermione looked as if her dog had just died, and Harry felt blank.

Just blank. He didn’t talk about what happened to anyone, and nor did anyone ask. 

“Hermione, can you please get my pajamas for me? These clothes are uncomfortable,” Harry said, referring to the clothes that Madame Pomfrey had made him wear because he didn’t have any of his clothes with him. 

“The silk ones?” Hermione asked carefully, knowing fully that the silk ones belonged to Draco.

“...Yes, please.” Harry told her after a while of thinking. Hermione stood up and went to get them for Harry, leaving Ron and Harry alone as he ate. 

“Mate, what happened? Hermione and I were so worried.” Ron finally spoke to him. 

“I… don’t really know, actually. Can you explain what happened when I passed out?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, Hermione and I came rushing to see what was wrong. Then Parkinson did too, and so did Luna and a few other students. Then Professor McGonagall asked everyone to move out of the way as she took you to the Hospital Wing. We weren’t allowed to visit you until Friday. Harry, when we saw you on Friday… you looked horrible.” Ron explained. “Hermione even started crying, but she’ll never admit that to you.”

“...oh.” was all Harry could say in response. He was disappointed that Draco hadn’t come to see what was wrong. But why was he so disappointed? He shouldn’t have been. Draco had betrayed him. He had to let go of his feelings. 

“Oh, yeah. For some reason, Malfoy was requesting to see you. Probably to just taunt you or insult you. I didn’t let him come in though, don’t worry.” Ron told him boldly. Harry sighed in disappointment. 

But maybe it was good that Ron didn’t let him see Harry. Yes. It was good, wasn’t it? This way Harry could get over him quicker. But the question Harry was asking himself was, if he was so ready to get over Draco - which he wasn’t - why was his heart still aching so much?

Hermione returned with three silk pajamas, and Harry finished off his meal and went to the bathroom to change into the black ones. When he came outside, his two best friends looked at him with a frown, and Harry was confused as to why they seemed sadder than they already did. 

Then he noticed a little glass bottle in Hermione’s hand. 

“What? No. No, I refuse to drink that.” Harry protested in disbelief.

“Harry, please just cooperate-” Hermione immediately ran towards Harry. 

But Harry was fast. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak that was somehow on the bedside table, - though Harry clearly remembered giving it to Draco and that’s where he had seen it last - throwing it over himself and running out of the Hospital Wing. 

“Harry!” 

“Harry, get back here!” 

Pansy and Draco looked up from their peaceful reading to make eye contact with each other when they heard two voices screaming Harry’s name. 

Then, all of a sudden, they heard footsteps and heavy breathing. Pansy squealed when Harry threw off his Invisibility Cloak, panting heavily. 

“I don’t… have… enough stamina for this,” Harry groaned to himself. His back was to Pansy and Draco, and he hadn’t noticed them. When Harry finally caught his breath, he turned around and jumped when he noticed Pansy and Draco staring at him intently. Before he could register what was happening, someone had grabbed his head from behind, pinning him down to the floor.

“Harry, stop moving!” Hermione complained as she held his head down to put the potion into his mouth. Ron was at Harry’s feet, holding his legs down. “Ron! You absolute idiot! This is the wrong potion!” Hermione said with a facepalm, sitting down on the floor. Ron, annoyed, stood up and left to get the right potion. 

Draco and Pansy were too astonished to speak. Hermione turned to Harry who had sat up now, tears streaming down his face. 

“I… r-refuse to… drink that.” Harry said. Then, suddenly, he broke down into a sob, finding it difficult to breathe. He hugged his knees and rocked back and forth, whimpering. “No… no… no…” He repeated over and over. 

“Harry, please calm down,” Hermione tried to say in a calm voice, but it ended up just coming out all panicky, causing Harry to feel even worse. When Ron returned with the potion, he handed it to Hermione. 

“What happened?” He asked when he noticed that Harry was crying. 

“I don’t know, we’ll figure it out. Ron, I think it’s best if you go.” Hermione replied. 

“M..me?! I’m not doing anything wrong-”

“Ron, please.” 

With an annoyed expression on his face, Ron turned and left without another word. 

Hermione and Pansy turned to look at Draco expectantly. 

Draco, who had been staring at Harry, now turned to his textbook, looking at his Dark Mark from under the table. 

He had betrayed Harry. He had no right to try and calm down Harry, or to even help him.

But hearing Harry’s whimpering and sobs made him forget about all of that. He slowly stood up, carefully walking towards Harry, cautious not to trigger him any further. 

“Harry?” He called out to Harry gently. “Harry, it’s okay. Calm down.” He sat down beside Harry, slowly starting to stroke Harry’s hair with his left hand. Harry turned to look at Draco, his face streaked with tears, his green eyes glistening with absolute pain. “It’s okay.” He whispered softly. Harry wasn’t in the correct state of mind. He immediately reached out and wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck, bringing himself to sit on his lap. 

Draco was appalled. His eyes widened, he continued to stroke Harry’s hair, especially playing with the white strands in his hair, watching how it unusually grew whiter. Draco felt his heart beating heavily as Harry stopped crying. Draco knew he shouldn’t have, but he used his thumbs to wipe away Harry’s tears, his arms around Harry protectively, as the green eyed boy slowly closed his eyes. 

Draco looked up at Hermione, indicating that he wanted the potion. Hermione, getting the message immediately handed it to him. He gently opened up Harry’s mouth, putting the bottle to Harry’s lip. Harry let out a groan as if to protest. 

“Harry, please?” Draco asked slowly, and Harry gulped down the potion quickly. 

“Isn’t it funny?” Harry said dazedly, struggling to keep his eyes open to continue looking at Draco, who blinked in confusion. 

“What is?” 

“How you calmed me down… even though the reason I was crying was you.” 

Although Harry had said it in even less than a whisper, those words still echoed in Draco’s mind as loud as possible.

  
  
  
  



	15. Chapter 15

~~~~On Monday morning, Harry made his way to class. He was nowhere near in a state to be out of bed, but he had forced Madame Pomfrey to let him come to class. He had no choice but to do so, with their exams coming up in just a few months.

However, the medicine that Madame Pomfrey had forced Harry to drink made him a little forgetful.

So when he entered the DADA lesson, he slowly walked up to the front of the class, throwing his textbooks on the table and sat right beside Draco, using his hands as a pillow and placing his head on it, closing his eyes drowsily.

Draco, who looked up only after a few moments, almost fell over when he saw Harry peacefully sitting beside him. Snape, who noticed immediately, walked over to the table and cleared his throat loudly.

“Mr. Potter, that is not your seat.” He stated loudly. This time, it was Harry who almost fell over at the sudden mention of his name. He slowly looked up and gazed questioningly at Snape.

At that exact moment, Hermione and Pansy went running to Harry. Pansy immediately helped Harry up, with help from Hermione.

“So sorry, Professor Snape. The medicine Madame Pomfrey gave him makes him a little forgetful… and a bit dazed.” Hermione explained, grabbing Harry’s textbook from the table, making direct eye contact with Draco.

“Medicine?” Snape asked questioningly. “Is he still not recovered?”

“Oh, no, Professor Snape. It’ll take a while for him to get fully back to how he was before. He didn’t eat or sleep for over a week or two,” Hermione explained. Pansy wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulder, taking him to their table.

“Harry? You think you’ll be able to stay awake during this lesson?” Pansy asked quietly as she helped him sit down.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, sure.” Harry replied dazedly. “Just this medicine makes me a bit forgetful and unfocused.”

“Just a tad.”

Hermione walked to their table and set Harry’s textbooks down. “Draco’s totally worried. You can completely see it on his face. This’ll get him to talk to Harry for sure!” Hermione told Pansy somewhat excitedly. Harry was barely listening, he was more focused on trying to focus which was barely working.

Draco, who was seated at the front of the class, was still finding it hard to process what just happened.

*******

Two weeks had passed since Harry had fallen sick. The next Quidditch game was against Ravenclaw, coming up in a week.

“Harry, we’ve been practicing non-stop without you, I really have a good feeling about this one,” Ron said as Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, starting to eat some toast. “When are you going to join us for practice? Our next practice is this evening.”

“Yeah, sure. I can join this evening, I think.” Harry told Ron.

Hermione was glad to see Harry picking himself up, but she couldn’t help feeling sad that Draco and Harry hadn’t cleared things up between them.

That evening, Harry quickly changed into his Quidditch uniform before getting out into the field to practice.

The practice went well; apart from Harry making a few mistakes here and there. The team forgave him for it; after all, Harry had taken a long break from Quidditch. Everyone went into the Changing Room after practice.

“Oh shoot, I think I left the Snitch out on the field,” Harry said, suddenly realizing. “You go ahead to dinner, Ron.”

“Sure, mate, see you there.” Ron and the others left, and Harry walked out to the field, walking to the middle, to see Ginny standing there, still in her Quidditch uniform, the Snitch in her hand.

“I see you forgot this,” She said with a grin.

“Yeah,” Harry replied, grinning back. Harry reached out to take the Snitch from Ginny, put she put her arm out of reach.

“Harry, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“Really? I’ve always been here.” Harry said, referring to the fact that Ginny could have talked to him any time.

“Yes… you have.” Ginny said, a weird twinkle in her eye that she didn’t notice. “You’ve always… been here… for me.”

“Of course I have,” Harry said with a slight chuckle. “You’re my best friend’s-”

And suddenly Ginny cut him off, placing her lips on his, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Harry knew he should have pushed her off. That he should have told her he was in love with someone else. That he didn’t like girls. That he didn’t like her.

But instead, in a moment of weakness, he closed his eyes and pretended that the person he was kissing was someone else, and not Ginny Weasley.

He was pretending it was Draco Malfoy he was kissing.

But of course, it was completely different. She didn’t have the same passion; she didn’t have the same emotion; she didn’t have the same lips. Nothing about her was suitable for him. And that’s why he pulled away from Ginny.

“Ginny, I… I’m sorry, I…” Harry started to apologize but noticed that Ginny was staring at someone behind him. Harry turned to see a white-haired boy turning and walking away swiftly. “Fuck…”

Harry immediately started walking after him.

All Draco felt was pain. Seeing him kissing someone else. Seeing someone else’s arms around his body, seeing someone else staring at him the way he should have been. All Draco could think was how he was the one who should have been kissing Harry, having his arms around Harry. Draco walked all the way to the empty bathroom.

“Draco.” His voice was strange. Almost as if he felt guilty.

“I know you deserve someone better. Someone you can trust, someone who’s an easy option.” His voice was broken, and his words were slightly incoherent due to the tears rushing down his face.

“I was going to apologize. Ask you if there was any chance you could take me back, any chance at all.”

Harry didn’t know what to say.

“I was going to explain. I was going to explain everything.” Draco turned to face Harry. “But you… you…”

Harry was going to protest, he was going to open his mouth to say something. But something told him that he should let Draco talk.

“Do you have any idea how it feels? To see her disgusting, dry lips on yours. Her arms around your neck. And worst of all, to see you, your beautiful, soft lips, kissing her back, pulling her closer, even. I know I have no right to tell you who you can kiss and who you can’t, but fuck, it just…” Draco trailed off into silence, wiping his tears away, only to have more fall down. “...it _hurts_ , Harry. It hurts.

“I saw you fainting. I saw as you fell down, as you were escorted to the hospital wing, how you were out for a week. You… how could you even do that to yourself? Do you have any idea how worried everyone was? Especially me, because I had no way of finding out how you were.”

Harry found himself crying too.

“Why, Harry? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Harry answered in a shaky voice. “It’s not like you’re any better.”

“I’m not, I know that,” Draco replied. He longed for Harry’s arms to be wrapped around him.

“You aren’t, you really aren’t,” Harry spoke. He felt it was now his turn. “How do you think I felt? Finding out you aren’t on my side, that you’ve been doing things behind my back. That maybe it was all a lie, that maybe you were just acting from the beginning.

“I felt horrible. I felt betrayed, mostly. I didn’t want to eat. I couldn’t sleep. I cared too much about what happened, and no matter how much I tried to convince myself

that I hated you, I just couldn’t, because it’s not true. I don’t hate you. I could never, ever hate you.”

The two stared at each other in silence, processing what the other had said.

“You ruined everything.”

Both of them said it at the exact same time, at the exact same moment, with the same look in their eyes.

Harry slowly stepped closer to Draco. “You do realize, that if you had just told me from the beginning, everything would have been okay?”

“You do realize that, if I had said anything to you, both of us would have been killed? No, even worse, you wouldn’t have even listened even if I told you.”

“You are on Lord Voldemort’s side, this isn’t a game, Draco.”

“You didn’t let me explain, nor did you treat me properly.”

“Why should I treat you properly if you’re on Voldemort’s side?”

Harry didn’t mean to say it. It just slipped out of his mouth. Draco was getting aggravated at this point. The two were past the tears, only feeling pure anger towards each other now.

“You would know that I’m not on his side if you let me explain,” Draco told him, glaring at him. “But, no. You were running off with your little girlfriend, making out with her; perhaps even more.”

“Are you comparing me kissing someone to you working for someone who’s trying to kill me?”

“Not comparing, just saying how’s it’s the cherry on top of the cake.”

“You’re impossible to talk to,” Harry said with a bitter laugh. “This isn’t about me kissing Ginny. This is about you betraying me.”

“Shut up!” Draco shouted, getting very frustrated by now. Out of instinct, he took out his wand and pointed it at Harry. “You know nothing. This is not about you, Harry.”

Harry got out his wand too. “I’d like to see how this has nothing to do with me.”

“If you had just let me fucking explain, you would have known already!” Draco snapped at him. “Go ahead, Harry. Hex me. Curse me. Use whatever spell you want. You know you want to. I’m on Voldemort’s side, aren’t I? I deserved to be treated like trash.”

“Draco, don’t do that.”

“Do what? Come on, Harry, you know you want to.” Draco was taunting Harry now. He was feeling so infuriated with himself and Harry as well.

“I’m not doing this right now,” Harry said, pocketing his wand and turning to leave.

“Good. I’m glad that we’ve come to terms that you ruined everything.” Draco said. “You ruined everything.” He repeated.

“I ruined nothing,” Harry said calmly. “If anything, you ruined everything.”

“I told you I would explain myself. You didn’t let me, Harry, and this is how things have become. So, therefore, you ruined everythin-”

“No, you did, Draco! _You_ ruined absolutely everything!” Harry screamed, turning, getting out his wand and pointing it at Draco. Draco now sensed that Harry was about to do something. He lowered his wand.

“Harry-”

“ _Sectumsempra!_ ” Harry shouted, pointing his wand directly at Draco.

It took a few moments to process what had happened.

Because, suddenly, Draco was on the floor, trembling, panting, starting to shake uncontrollably, blood starting to seep through his white shirt.

It had hit Harry what he had just done.

“N-no. Fuck, no. No, I didn’t… no…” Harry sank to his knees, right beside where Draco was shaking in a pool of his own blood. “No! I didn’t… Fuck!”

Harry tried putting his hand over where Draco was bleeding, to get it to stop, but he couldn’t. There were too many wounds.

Tears were rushing down Harry’s face, the gut-wrenching pain of guilt hitting him, as the boy beside him continued to shake uncontrollably.

 


	16. Chapter 16

The rumors spread like wildfire at once.

By the next day, everyone had assumed that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had a duel, and Harry had won. This caused even more whispering every time Harry entered a room.

Ron and Hermione had, of course, questioned Harry about what happened. They only got one sentence in response.

“I used a spell from the Half-Blood Prince’s textbook, that was made for enemies.”

Surprisingly for Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to know that they shouldn’t pry. They let him have his privacy, and let him keep to himself.

A week passed. Ginny Weasley was finding every excuse to talk to Harry, but he wasn’t up for it. Eventually, she gave up and simply just stayed by him as he remained silent.

Harry found himself going to the Hospital Wing every hour.

 _Still no visitors allowed,_ Harry thought to himself as Madame Pomfrey practically glared at him as he entered.

“Has he woken up yet, at least?” Harry asked, his eyes moving to the direction where Draco was, hidden behind the curtains. His voice was filled with worry, his eyes glinting with guilt.

“Mr. Potter, I am not allowed to say anything. Especially to you.” Madame Pomfrey said.

“So he has,” Harry said. The hour before Madame Pomfrey had told him that he wasn’t awake yet.

“Mr. Potter, please leave unless you are in need of something.”

 _Yes,_ Harry thought to himself, _I need to see Draco._

Harry nodded and slowly turned and exited the Hospital Wing.

******* 

Harry entered clumsily, pushing past the curtains.

Draco was wide awake, staring at the ceiling. His skin seemed dry, his lips were chapped. His chest was covered with the blanket, so Harry couldn’t see how he had been treated or anything. Harry stayed at the foot of the bed, simply staring at Draco.

“I know you’re there,” Draco spoke in a low, quiet, voice. He sounded different. Harry sighed, taking off the Invisibility Cloak. Draco was still staring at the ceiling. He refused to look at Harry.

“I didn’t know what the spell did,” Harry said at once. “I really didn’t. I was angry, and I was hurt, and I wasn’t thinking straight. I know there’s no excuse, but Draco, I-”

“Please leave.”

Harry was caught off guard. “What?” was all he could get out.

“Harry, please. Go.”

“Draco, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I really am. I didn’t know what the spell did, I-”

“Harry, please just _leave_.”

Harry felt the hot tears run down his face, his chest hurting as if it was scalded. He turned to leave. Just before he pushed past the curtain, Draco spoke, springing up Harry’s hope.

“And Harry?” “Yes?” Harry turned eagerly. Draco had now sat up and was staring at him.

“Don’t come back.”

Harry felt as if someone had smashed his head against a window. He nodded, turning, putting the Cloak over him and leaving.

Draco heard a distant shout of someone cursing right outside the Hospital Wing. He lied back down, shutting his eyes tightly, knowing well that it was Harry.

********

“So visitors are finally allowed,” Hermione told Harry as he started eating.

“I know,” Harry replied quietly, munching on his toast.

“Are you going to visit? To say sorry.”

Harry didn’t reply, simply stuffed his face with food so he wouldn’t have to answer. Hermione rolled her eyes, but sympathetically put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Harry.”  

“Yeah, me too.”

Harry found himself during his free period running to the Hospital Wing. Harry couldn’t help himself. He saw that Draco was asleep. He sat down on the chair beside the bed, slowly reaching and taking Draco’s hand, clutching it tightly. Harry studied him as he slept, breathing heavily.

“Finally you’ve visited,” A voice said, making Harry jump. He turned and saw Pansy standing by the bed. “He’s been awake all day, restless. Every time someone entered he begged for me to open the curtains to see who it was.”

“I shouldn’t have come,” Harry said, feeling guilty. He should have respected what Draco wanted, and he should have left him alone. He stood up, and turned to leave.

“Harry, don’t go. Stay with him for a bit. The medicine he’s under is pretty strong, he’ll be out for hours.”

“I’m not sure he wants me to be here,” Harry told her with a sigh.

“What makes you say that?” Pansy asked. Harry’s back was to Draco, so he didn’t notice that Draco slowly opened his eyes and shut them again, pretending to be asleep.

“Well, he sort of… told me to leave and never come back, so…”

“Oh come on, it’s Draco. He always says things he doesn’t mean.” Pansy told him with an eye roll. Pansy pushed him down on the chair. “Draco told me what happened.”

“Right. And you aren’t throwing bricks at me yet?” Harry asked, turning to face Draco, slowly taking his hand and holding it again.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have any bricks with me to throw.” Pansy said matter-of-factly.

“If you find any, feel free throw them at me.”

“And Harry, what good will that do?” Pansy asked with an eye roll.

“It’ll make Draco feel better?” Harry said questioningly. “No, scratch that. It’ll make _me_ feel better.”

“You both were upset, Harry. It’s only natural.”

“What, that I used a spell made especially for enemies at my boyfriend?”

“What? No. That was totally out of the line and incredibly stupid.” Pansy told him. “I was talking about drawing your wands out and pointing it at each other. You know, Harry, the good ol’ _Expelliarmus_ still works, right?”

“Oh, give me a break.”

Just then, the bell rang from the Clock Tower, signaling the start of the next period.

“I need to get going,” Harry said. “Wait, Pansy, could you… do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Could you tell Draco to go to the tent? You know, when he’s out of here. I won’t be there, I just… I left a few things there for him.”

“Sure,” Pansy said, nodding. “Why can’t the two of you just work things out?”

“I trust that it’ll work out,” Harry said, referring to the war. “And if it doesn’t… well, we’ll just have to see.”

Then, Harry got up, gently putting his lips to Draco’s hand. Then he slowly let go of Draco’s hand and left to go to class.

“Draco, open your eyes, he’s gone,” Pansy said, walking over to sit on the chair.

“How’d you know I was awake?”

“I’m not blind. I saw you open your eyes.”

“Oh,” Draco said, slowly opening his eyes and sitting up.

“You heard it in his voice, didn’t you?”

Draco didn’t say anything.

“The guilt, the pain, the hurting?”  

Draco smiled slightly, sighing as he ran a hand through his pale hair, the brown streak in his hair glinting. “Of course I heard. I know him better than himself.”

********

Draco was up and about a few days later. He was still very weak.

On Saturday morning, Draco walked to the tent. It was mostly empty. He walked over to the couch and saw a pile of clothes neatly folded, and a piece of paper placed on top.

Draco unfolded the note.

_Something to remember me by?_

Draco was confused as he read it. He turned and saw that there was a Gryffindor Quidditch jumper, and a sweater with H written on it.

Draco turned back to the note.

_~ Scarface_

It had been from Harry, of course.

Draco took it.

The next day, Harry walked to the tent to check on how things were. He noticed that the two jumpers he had left were gone, to replaced by something else.

Harry turned to the clothes. It was a Slytherin Quidditch Jumper, and another set of silk pajamas. And then it hit Harry.

It was the red silk pajamas that Draco claimed he would never give Harry since it was his favorite.

*******

Harry went for his detention, missing the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. When he had entered the Gryffindor Common Room, everyone was celebrating.

“Harry! Harry, we won! We won against Ravenclaw!”

Ginny Weasley was running up to Harry, her long red hair flying behind her, as she slowly came to a halt right in front of him.

“Oh, that’s great,” Harry said, in more of a blank tone, and a slight smile. “Sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“No no, that’s fine, really.”

Ginny was grinning from ear to ear. She slowly leaned up, to kiss Harry on the lips. Harry, who was daydreaming while staring at her, didn’t notice.

“Harry!” Hermione’s voice called from his left. Harry immediately turned to Hermione, causing Ginny’s lips to touch his cheek instead of his lips. Startled, Harry flinched backward. Harry had to say something since it had gotten awkward.

“Harry, how was the detention? What did Snape make you do?” Hermione asked as Ginny quickly took a step back from Harry.

“Just sort out old files,” Harry answered, so grateful that Hermione had interrupted them that he pulled her into a hug. He quickly pulled away and awkwardly stood in front of the two girls.

“Harry, mate, did you hear? We won!”

“Yeah, I did. Congratulations,” Harry said. Ginny took this as an opportunity to quickly walk away, making Harry at ease again, not listening to a word of what Ron was telling Harry about the match.

Thirty minutes later, Harry managed to slip out of the party, and quickly went to his dorm and got into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

*******

The following Monday, Harry’s day started off relatively normal, feeling a bit at ease that Ginny wasn’t following him around anymore.

Harry found himself zoning in and out. He felt mostly blank, the guilt had washed away. He had forced himself to block out any sort of thoughts of the incident. But every so often, he would see someone in the hallways that looked ever so slightly like Draco, making him flinch and drop everything he would be holding.

That was, until, Harry saw the actual Draco Malfoy standing in the hallway. Harry dropped the books in his hand, stopped walking, and almost fell over. The books had hit the floor with a huge _bang_.

“Harry, what the hell are you doing?” Hermione snapped, leaning over and picking up his books. She followed Harry’s gaze and realized what was wrong. “Oh, it’s just Malfoy; it’s okay, Harry.”

Harry took the books from Hermione and practically ran off to his next class. Harry had managed to calm himself, not flinching whenever he saw Draco (or in Harry’s situation, his eyes tricking him into thinking it was Draco).

That was, until the evening. Harry had eaten whatever he could and exited the Hall as quickly as possible. He was walking down the hall when he saw Draco. This time, he didn’t flinch but did take a step backward when he noticed Draco was with someone.

“I love your eyes.” An unfamiliar voice was telling Draco. “They’re just so handsome. And your hair, oh, your hair…”

Draco had his back to Harry, but he was tall, so whoever was in front of him, was being covered by him. All Harry saw was a slim hand running through Draco’s hair, their long, pointy fingernails brushing through as if it was a comb.

The person wrapped their arms around Draco’s neck, pushing him against the nearest wall and kissing him deeply.

Harry’s eyes widened when he realized who it was.

Astoria Greengrass was kissing Draco Malfoy roughly, her tongue dancing in his, smirking as she did so. No, that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was Draco was letting her do so.

Hypocrite. A huge, huge, hypocrite, Harry was. But he felt as if someone had just torn his chest open, pulled his heart out, and put it back inside, leaving a huge, open wound.

Horrible. He felt horrible.

Harry had to numb it out. He had to, he couldn’t let himself be torn. He turned and started to walk away.

Just then, Astoria stopped kissing Draco. Pansy came out from under the Invisibility Cloak.

“Thank you, Astoria,” Pansy said.

“Me? I should be thanking you.” Astoria said. “We’ll finish this off later, Draco.” She winked and walked in the direction opposite from where Harry was walking up to.

“What the hell was that?” Draco asked, still confused.

“You’ll see, honey.”

Pansy pulled the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them, walking after Harry, who was now at the entrance of the Gryffindor Common Room. He stopped right at the portrait.

“Coming in?” The Fat Lady asked.

“Yes,” Harry said. He quickly said the password and walked through. So did Draco and Pansy, under the Cloak (that they had taken from Hermione, which Hermione had taken from Harry without his knowledge).

Draco was still very confused as to what was going on, but Pansy wouldn’t let him question anything.

Harry slammed open his dorm room door, walking inside. Pansy and Draco barely managed to enter through, and went to stand at a corner.

“Now what?” Draco asked in a whisper. A startled Harry looked up from the direction of the noise but went back to taking off his hoodie. He lied down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” Harry whispered to himself as he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

The door opened and Hermione entered. She looked around the room. Pansy kicked the wall behind her to show her she was in the room. Hermione quickly nodded before shutting the door behind her.

“Harry, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” She said, slowly walking over to where he was lying.

“Splendid,” Harry said, sitting up, annoyed that he was disturbed. “What the fuck does it take to get some alone time around here?”

“Harry-”

“No, fuck this.” Harry stood up and opened up his trunk, practically throwing his clothes out.

“Harry, I want to know what happened between you and Draco.”

Harry flinched at the mention of his name. “Nothing.”

“Then how come you flinch every time someone says his name?” Hermione asked, getting impatient.

Harry had no answer for that. “Where the hell is my Invisibility Cloak?” he asked, quickly changing the subject. He dumped his clothes back in the trunk, closing it and sighing as he started looking for it under his pillow and on his bedside table.

“Why do you need it?” Hermione questioned, taking a step forward. She was just by Ron’s bed, giving Harry space that he seemed like he needed.

“I need to clear my head.”

“I need to know what happened, Harry,” Hermione told him.

“Why? Why do you need to know? Will you die, or something, if you don’t know? You don’t need to know anything, this shit doesn’t concern you!” Harry furiously wiped his eyes to the point where they were burning of the dryness, refusing to cry.

Draco, under the Cloak, bit his lip as he frowned, watching what was going on.

“Yeah, there’s no way you’re going for a walk now,” Hermione told him. “You need to calm down, I’m on your side here.”

That was a wrong thing to say, and Draco knew that more than anyone at that moment.

Harry, who had his back to Hermione, now quickly turned, glaring at her. “Oh, really, are you now?”

“Yes, Harry, I am. So please just tell me. This seems more like just a fight that happened,” Hermione said. She was now feeling nervous. If looks could kill, Hermione would have been long dead by now. But she contained eye contact with Harry.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Harry muttered. He turned back to his bed, grabbing his wand and turning to leave.

“I’m not letting you leave,” said Hermione firmly, starting to glare back at Harry. “You are in no state to-”

“Just stop, Hermione, please!” Harry shouted, stepping forwards, pointing his wand right at her, the wand only centimeters away from her chin.

“Oh, yes. Just use your wand, like you did with Draco.” A voice inside his head said revoltingly. Harry lowered his wand, his hand trembling, his face going blank. He turned and threw his wand on his bed.

Draco felt his insides lurch. Watching Harry was breaking him.

“I just…” Harry said in a soft whisper, slowly sitting down on the bed.

“What, Harry? Just tell me, I won’t judge you,” Hermione said in a comforting tone, sitting down beside him.

Harry felt hot tears running down his face, as he finally took off his fragile mask of numbness. 

“I have no right, I don’t, I don’t. But he… he just let her kiss him, he just let her! I know I shouldn’t be so upset, I’m being a huge hypocrite since I kissed Ginny, but I didn’t even want Ginny to kiss me, I don’t even like her. But he might like _her_ , and there’s no problem with that because we’re definitely not even together anymore but Astoria Greengrass? He deserves much, _much_ , better, and no, not _me_ , but someone better than me, and I just hate how he let that bitch kiss him, I know I’m in no place to say anything but still.”

Harry had said everything way too fast, way too quickly for anyone to even comprehend it. But he smiled slightly, feeling as if a small weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Hermione, looking as confused as ever, took a few seconds to even realize he had stopped talking. She cleared her throat.

“I have no idea what you just said,” Hermione told him. Harry laughed slightly before quickly wiping his tears away.

“You don’t need to know,” Harry said. “But I realize I can’t just leave you hanging.”

“Yes, thank you!” Hermione said, feeling satisfied that she was going to get some information.

“Draco and I aren’t together anymore,” Harry said slowly. It hurt him to say it, but he had to say it out loud sooner or later.

Hermione blinked. “That’s it? Harry, even a freaking snail could figure that out!”

Harry shrugged. “It’s not fair to him,” Harry said with a sigh. “I want to keep what happened between us.”

“Harry, you were sent to the Hospital Wing for two weeks because of him, and vice versa. You can’t just-”

“Watch me,” Harry said with a grin, standing up and walking to the door. He turned and smirked slightly at Hermione. “Tell Pansy and Draco to leave my Invisibility Cloak on their way out.”

Harry opened the door.

“Wait, Harry, how’d you know they’re here?” Hermione asked, her eyes widening.

Harry’s smirk faded, and his eyes turned to where Draco was standing. “No idea, actually.”

Harry turned and left the dorm, shutting the door behind, leaving the three confused as hell.

  
  
  



	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all :) next chapter might take a while. sorry in advance x 
> 
> p.s. thank you all for the love and support. It really boosts my confidence and gives me inspiration to write. 
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter. happy reading!

The following Saturday, Harry went for his detention again, finishing around nine at night. 

Everyone was in the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry went to his dorm, changing into the red silk pajamas and putting on the Slytherin jumper. He missed Draco tonight. He had made the week without thinking about him too much. 

But on this Saturday, he missed Draco way more than usual. He grabbed the book that he had been reading since before Draco and Harry broke up, the one he had recommended to Draco. He hadn’t finished it yet. Reading it made him feel nostalgic and think about Draco. 

Harry exited his dorm fifteen minutes later, to hang out by the fire in the Common Room. 

“Harry, why are you wearing a Slytherin Quidditch jumper?” Ron asked Harry as he entered the Common Room. 

“Just showing house unity, Ron,” Harry said in a blank tone, not looking up from his book.

“Saint Potter is wearing a Slytherin Quidditch jumper,” a snarky voice said, “how did he land his hands on one? Oy, Potter, did you steal it from us?”

It was Blaise Zabini. 

Harry looked up to see the Gryffindors and Slytherins sitting in a circle. He looked around and saw that everyone who was there earlier had left, only leaving sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins (except for Ginny, who was in fifth year and there as well). 

“What’s this, a Gryffindor-Slytherin party?” Harry asked jokingly. “Guess I dressed well for the occasion.” 

“Oh Harry, just sit down! We’re going to play Spin the Bottle.” Ginny said, standing up and grabbing Harry’s hand, pulling him to the circle, making him sit beside her. She was blushing and grinning at him. Harry, who was frowning, slowly shut his book and put it to the side. His eyes went around the circle and he noticed Draco sitting beside Pansy and Astoria. Astoria was practically sitting on his lap, judging by how close she was to him.

It startled Harry that Draco was here. The two made eye contact, but Harry broke it off as quickly as possible. Harry turned to Hermione, who was beside him. 

“What is he doing here?” He asked her in a low voice, getting slightly panicked. 

“Oh, _now_ you want to talk to me,” Hermione said loudly, turning away from Harry, referring to how he had refused to talk to her all day. “We’re all here to play Spin the Bottle. Simple as that.” 

“Alright, I’ll start first!” said Pansy, getting an empty Firewhisky bottle and spinning it. It landed on Blaise. The two shared a quick kiss. Then, it went on to several other people, until finally…

“Harry, why don’t you go?” Hermione asked. It had just been Hermione’s turn, and she had to kiss Ron. It was a quick and awkward kiss between them, but no one could deny that Hermione was practically glowing. Harry sighed.

“Eh… I don’t know...” Harry said, feeling a bit on edge. 

“Ah, come on, mate, it’s fun.” Ron insisted. Harry took the bottle and spun it very fast, hoping and praying it wouldn’t land on Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be staring at Harry very intently as he stared at the bottle spinning and spinning until it finally came to a stop.

There was the bottle, pointing directly at Ginny. 

On second thought, Harry would have preferred to kiss Draco. It was nothing against Ginny herself; she just… wasn’t the one he wanted. 

“I guess we have to kiss,” Ginny said with a slight giggle and a sheepish smile. Harry nodded slowly. Ginny leaned forward and so did Harry. 

The kiss was quick. Their lips had barely touched, and Harry made sure it stayed that way. He pulled away and sat back on the floor. Hermione and Pansy exchanged glances, that very clearly said they wished the bottle had landed on someone else (Draco, of course). 

“Alright, I’m bored. Let’s play Seven Minutes In Heaven.” Hermione said. Everyone turned to her, extremely confused. She rolled her eyes and started to explain what it was to the whole group. Everyone seemed to have an interest in it, except for Draco and Harry, who showed no opinion about it. 

“Well, since we don’t have a specific closet, the two people will just have to lock themselves in one of the nearby dorms. Sound good?” Everyone agreed with Pansy. “Draco, you go first.” 

Draco spun the bottle, and it spun and spun. Draco and Harry both stared at the bottle at it went past Harry, slowly coming to a halt at Astoria. Astoria was delighted. She grabbed Draco by his collar and dragged him into the dark hallway. Everyone felt silent and heard a door shut loudly. 

Harry was filled with rage. His heart was burning, and not in a good way. He was boiling, fuming. He felt his fingers dig into his palms as he looked down at his lap, trying to hide his glare. 

Seven minutes later, Draco and Astoria walked out the dark lipstick from her lips all over Draco’s pale face and lips. 

“Hey, Ron, give that to me, will you?” Harry asked, grabbing the Firewhisky from Ron and taking a huge gulp from it. He felt the alcohol burn against his throat, as he set down the what was once full - now half empty - on the floor beside him. “Alright, who’s next? No one? Alright, my turn.” 

Harry grabbed the empty bottle and spun it. He watched as the bottle slowly stopped. He followed where the bottle was pointing at. It was Draco Malfoy. 

Everyone burst into laughter. 

“Oh, this is hilarious!” Dean said through laughter. “Two enemies, together in a room for seven minutes. Yes please!”

Harry quickly stood up. 

“Mate, you can’t be serious!” Ron said, the outrage clear in his voice. 

“I can’t cheat the game. Besides, I’m not going to make out with Malfoy, Ron.” Harry explained. Ron nodded. Harry walked down the hallway. “I’ve done enough of that already,” he muttered to himself. 

Harry entered his dorm, Draco close behind him. Harry shut the door behind Draco. There was only one lamp on, which was on the other side of the room. It definitely set the mood.

Harry and Draco stared at each other in silence. Green eyes staring into silver ones, the white in Harry’s hair glinting, the brown in Draco’s shining. 

“Long time,” Harry finally said, about two minutes after the staring. He slowly took a step towards Draco. Draco took a step backward. They did this until Draco was against the wall, Harry’s face close to his. Harry looked around the room and got a tissue, slowly pressing it against Draco’s face. 

It finally occurred to Draco that Harry was wiping away the lipstick marks. Their gaze remained on each other as Harry continued doing this.

“How did it feel?” Harry asked slowly. “Her disgusting, dry lips on yours. Her arms around your neck. Your beautiful, soft lips, on hers. Pulling her closer to you.”

Draco said nothing. Harry slowly finished up wiping the lipstick marks off of Draco’s face and neck. But he used his thumb to wipe it off his lips. 

“Your soft lips,” Harry said in barely a whisper, “deserve only the best.” Harry leaned up and ever so gently placed his lips on Draco’s. The kiss was soft. Neither of them kissed properly. It was just their lips on each other. 

“Alrighty, lovebirds, time’s up!” Pansy said, knocking on the door loudly. She quickly opened it, and Harry smoothly walked out, as if nothing happened. A surprised and shocked Draco came staggering out of the room a few moments later, his face red, his chest starting to feel queasy. 

“Alright, it’s Hermione’s turn now,” Pansy declared. The bottle landed on Pansy. The two walked into the dorm and stayed there for seven minutes. It sounded more like they were having a conversation than anything else. The two exited the dorm and it was someone else’s turn.  Eventually, it was Harry’s turn again. 

The bottle landed on Draco. This time, Draco was quick to stand up, running to the dorm. Harry was close behind him. As he entered, Draco grabbed his hand and slammed the door shut, pushing him against the wall right beside the door.

“You have no right to do that,” Draco hissed, his eyes piercing into Harry’s. Harry slowly opened his mouth to speak.

“Don’t say you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve had enough of this bullshit.” 

Harry was surprised by this. Draco seemed as if he had been itching to say this to Harry. 

“You can’t just… kiss me, and make it seem like it isn’t a big deal.” 

“Draco, it isn’t a big deal. We used to make out all the time.” Harry told him matter-of-factly.

“That was different,” Draco snapped. “That was when we were together.” 

It hurt the both of them as he said it, but they knew it was true. Things had changed. Things were different now. 

“You’re right,” Harry whispered slowly, sighing. “Why didn’t you push me off then?” 

Draco gulped, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t… well…”

Harry didn’t laugh or tease him. He kept his eyes sharp on Draco, waiting for his answer. 

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Draco said finally, sighing in defeat. “I just…”

“What, Draco?” Harry asked in less than a whisper. 

Silence. Draco felt himself lean forwards very, very slowly. Their lips barely touching, their eyes still staring into the other's. 

Harry’s heart was beating so fast, so quick.

“Time’s up!” The two heard Pansy call from a distance. 

Draco was the first to exit this time. Harry followed soon after. He sat down beside Hermione, who was just about to take a big gulp out of the Firewhisky. 

Harry sighed. He had enough of this. “I’m going to go. Have a fun rest of your night.” He said. Many people protested, but he didn’t listen. He turned and walked into his dorm, taking off the Slytherin Quidditch jumper and throwing it to the side. But he remained in his red pajamas that smelt so strongly of Draco. 

Harry took in a deep breath before getting under the covers, closing the curtains of his four-poster bed and slowly falling asleep, dreaming of a certain silver-eyed boy.

********

When Harry woke, it was because all of his dorm mates were talking very loudly. He sat up, opening the curtains and putting on his glasses. 

“Morning,” He greeted Ron who was busily putting on his clothes. 

“Mate, fix your hair,” He stated. Harry, confused, walked into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. The streak in his hair was bright white, contradicting his semi-dark brown hair. He raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was a wizard thing. He had no time to think of this now. He was having a huge headache. He instantly regretted drinking that much Firewhisky all because he couldn’t handle not being able to kiss Draco.

He slowly got ready and walked to the Great Hall, where Ginny Weasley was eagerly waiting for him. 

“So, last night was fun,” Ginny stated as Harry sat down beside her, starting to eat. Harry scoffed. 

“I beg to differ,” he said with an eye roll. “I was stuck with Dra- Malfoy for fourteen minutes.” He stuffed a sausage into his mouth. 

“I meant because we got to kiss,” She whispered in his ear. Harry raised an eyebrow. 

“Hm? Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that, haha.” Harry laughed awkwardly. He went back to eating. 

“Harry, I really need to talk to you,” Ginny said. “I just… I feel like we need to talk about  _ us _ .” 

“Us?” asked Harry, confused. “What’s there to talk about?” 

Ginny stood up and took his hand. “Come on, let’s go somewhere more private.” She told him, smiling slightly. Harry, with a raised eyebrow, stood up too, following her out of the Great Hall. They went into the Gryffindor Common Room, but there were people there, so they walked into Ginny’s dorm. 

“What’s up?” Harry asked, starting to feel a bit impatient.

“Harry, I think it’s pretty obvious at this point, but I have feelings for you,” Ginny told him. Harry took in a deep breath. He didn’t know what to say with that. He was overly head over heels for Draco, and though he had been denying it with every inch of his being for the past few days, he knew he was hung up on Draco. 

Ginny giggled slightly. “Did you not realize?” She asked, noticing how tense he got. He bit his lip and stared down at his feet. 

“Not quite,” Harry replied, running a hand through his hair. “Here’s the thing, Gin-”

“Oh, wow,” Ginny gasped, starting to frown. “Oh, no.”

Harry grimaced. “I just… I don’t like you that way.” 

Tears were forming in Ginny’s eyes. “What about that person you were talking about to me? That you didn’t expect to love?” she asked.

“That was… well, I’d really rather not say-” 

“What about you kissing me back? Leading me on?” Ginny cut him off, starting to get furious. 

“Leading you on? Please, Ginny, I have not led anyone on.” Harry protested. 

“You did! You led me on! I can’t believe you!” Tears were falling down her face and she was glaring at Harry. “Why did you kiss me back then? That day?”

Harry had no answer that made sense. He took in a deep breath. He was feeling immensely guilty. 

“You’re such a jerk! Just get out of my face.” she practically shouted. She pushed Harry to the side and left the dorm, slamming the door behind her. Harry swore under his breath and slumped against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. 

********

Harry entered the Gryffindor Common Room after a long walk around the castle, taking off his Invisibility Cloak. He had been using it a lot more than usual lately. It was around ten in the night. 

Harry turned to see Hermione, Pansy, Luna, and Ron all standing in a circle. Well, Ron was sitting down near the three girls who were whispering so quietly that even he couldn’t hear them. 

All four of them turned to face Harry.

“Who died?” Harry asked jokingly as he walked up to them. 

“Ginny’s really upset,” was all Hermione responded to that. All of them were frowning. Harry’s face fell. 

“Still?” He asked, taking off his glasses, massaging his temples as he sat down beside Ron. “It’s not my fault that I don’t have feelings for her.”

No one said anything to that. Ron simply sighed. “Mate, if it’s because of me, I don’t mind you being with my sister.” 

“Thanks, Ron, but I really just don’t see her that way. I see her the way you see her. Like a sister.” 

“Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t keep your relationship with that girl so secret,” Ron said.

“Yeah… uh… let’s just not talk about her.”

“Did you guys break up? Is that why you’ve been so down? Hermione won’t say a thing to me.” 

Harry felt his left arm starting to sting. He slowly pulled up the sleeve of his left arm. It was hurting exactly where Draco’s Dark Mark was on his own arm. Harry pushed the thought away and slowly rubbed the spot, but it only got worse. He felt as if that spot of his arm was on fire. 

“Ron, it’s better if you don’t ask, he’s been…” Hermione leaned forward and started whispering quietly to him. Harry didn’t bother to try and listen. He leaned back and hoped for the burning sensation to go away, but it only got worse. 

“Can you stop?” Harry asked. “You don’t need to tread carefully around me. I’m not made of glass. Just treat me like you normally would. I hate that you think you need to tread carefully and be extra nice to me. Just leave me be. I’ll figure things out on my own.”

He quickly stood up and left the Common Room, leaning against the wall right outside the portrait. 

  
  



	18. Chapter 18

 

Luna entered the hallway a few moments after Harry. 

“They’re only worried about you. As am I,” Luna stated. The Fat Lady was asleep, so they didn’t have to worry about anyone listening in on them. 

“No need to be, I’m a-okay,” Harry told her sarcastically, clutching his left arm.

“Harry, you need to stop acting like a child.” She nodded towards Harry, who snapped his head in her direction out of surprise. 

“A child, you say?” he said in outrage, still clutching his arm. “Merlin, my arm!” he whispered to himself. 

“Words cannot express how done I am with you, Harry,” Luna said, crossing her arms and taking a step towards Harry. “Get your shit together.” 

Harry’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “Excuse me?” 

“You’re not excused,” Luna said. She was glaring at him now. “Do you not see how you’re worrying everyone around you? Do you not see what you’re doing to Draco?” 

“Wha- how do you know about-”

“Harry, do you want to get back together with him?” Luna asked, completely disregarding Harry’s question. 

Harry bit his lip. “I mean… I don’t-” 

“Harry, do you want to be with Draco, or not?” Luna asked, in a firm voice, her hands on his shoulders as she shook him fiercely. 

“I don’t-” 

“Harry James Potter, do you want to be with Draco Lucius Malfoy, or not?” She asked, in a much more firm voice, almost shouting. 

“Yes, for fuck’s sake, yes!” 

She let go of Harry. “Then be patient. The time isn’t right. Don’t force anything.” 

“I’m not forcing anything,” Harry said with a scoff. The pain in his left arm was starting to slowly go away. 

“Stop lying to yourself.” 

“I...I’m not ly-”

“Now, when you re-enter the Gryffindor Common Room, you better have gotten everything together.” 

“What?” Harry asked, getting confused. Luna rolled her eyes. 

“I thought I just told you. You need to wait. You and Draco are in opposite sides of a war right now. And don’t forget how he betrayed you. Now, gather your mind together. What is your main goal right now?”

“Well, it should be to find out what Horcruxes are…” Harry said truthfully. 

“Then focus on that. Focus on different things. Stop making your friends worry so much. Hermione and Pansy have been spending so much time to help you that they’ve not been focusing on what they should be.” Luna explained. “I’m sorry for being so firm and rude, but Hermione and Pansy don’t have the heart to tell you to straighten up, so someone has to.” 

“I can’t straighten up - I’m gay,” Harry said jokingly, receiving an eye roll from Luna. 

“Goodnight, Harry,” she said, smiling at him. “Let’s not speak of this conversation, shall we? I was only being a prat because you deserved it.” 

“Sure, Luna,” Harry said. Then, he entered the Gryffindor Common Room and went to his dorm, thinking about what Luna had said to him. 

********

Draco was in the Slytherin Common Room. He walked from side to side, something was bothering him at the back of his mind.  He felt the right side of his forehead sting. He didn’t know what was going on. 

“Draco, what are you doing?  _ Sit down _ .” Pansy said, watching him walk back and forth. He had been doing so for the past fifteen minutes. 

“Thinking,” Draco mumbled, taking in a deep breath. His Dark Mark was stinging too, so it was double the pain for him: his forehead and his arm. 

“Thinking?” Pansy repeated. “I didn’t know you were capable of doing so.” She said with a smirk. Draco simply rolled his eyes and went to sit beside her.

“Oh, you’re just so incredibly hilarious, Pansy,” Draco said, his voice coated with sarcasm. He was just about to tell her about what was on his mind when Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle came from the boys’ dormitories, coming and sitting beside them. Draco bit his tongue and sat back, gently massaging his forehead. 

Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle started having their own, light-hearted conversation. Draco didn’t join in. He sat back, his mind clouded. 

Draco felt that his face was wet. He put his hand to his face and realized that there were hot tears streaming down. 

“What the… hell?” he asked to himself, trying to wipe the tears away, only to have more stream down his face. His chest felt heavy, and his forehead and Dark Mark was burning. 

Nearby, Harry was leaning against the bathroom wall, his heart hurting, his chest hurting, his scar, and his arm hurting. Everything just hurt. It was indescribable to him. 

Everything was a mess. He couldn’t get any of his thoughts straight. His mind was cloudy. He had tried to listen to what Luna said, because fuck, she was right, of course she was. But Harry was finding it impossible to. He wanted to run to the one person he trusted the most, he wanted to run into his arms and tell him everything.

But that was just the thing. Harry wouldn’t even have to tell Draco. He would have understood without having to listen. He would have held Harry tightly and not say anything, nor ask any questions. 

But now that was gone. What they had was gone. What Harry had done, what Draco had done, what they both had done. Everything was just in pieces. 

Harry was crying. He had taken off his glasses and thrown it to the side. Hot tears escaped his eyes, as he buried his face in his hands, trying to get it to stop. Hoping everything would just stop.

“Draco, why are you crying?” Crabbe asked Draco, who was vigorously wiping the tears away, with just more tears spilling down his cheeks. 

“I-I don’t know…” Draco said. He quickly stood up and left the Slytherin Common Room, running to the bathroom. 

_ The  _ bathroom. 

It was as if the roles were switched. 

The white-haired boy entered the bathroom just as the brown-haired boy had stood up to leave. 

The two, their faces streaked with tears, locked eyes.

“Get out,” Harry wished he could have said. Just to humor the boy standing in front of him. 

But, instead...

Harry looked at the boy with silver eyes and took in a deep breath. 

He walked right past him as if he was not there. 

He left. Harry left. 

That was enough for Draco to realize that they were now once again enemies. 

*******

“Hey… uh… can we talk?” 

Harry, who was sorting out his trunk, looked up and saw Ginny standing at the doorway. He slowly stood up and nodded. 

“Harry, I’m incredibly sorry for the way I behaved the other day,” Ginny said, running a hand through her hair as she shut the door behind her. 

“No, it was mostly my fault for being an arse,” Harry protested, adjusting his glasses, the white in his hair today was shining and glinting. 

“Well, that too,” Ginny said with a slight giggle. She took a step forward. “I shouldn’t have lashed out like that. I respect that you like someone else.”

Harry smiled at her. “Thank you, Ginny. That means a lot.” 

She sat down on the bed as Harry continued to sort out his trunk. “May I ask who?” Ginny asked, wide-eyed. She grabbed one of his shirts and folded them properly in an attempt to help Harry. 

Harry, who was holding a book, drop it on the floor. Ginny laughed. 

“I’m guessing you don’t want to tell me, then?” she said playfully, handing the shirt that she had folded to Harry. He gratefully put it into his trunk neatly. She moved on to the next shirt. The two of them were now just folding Harry’s clothes. “Is she pretty?”

“Absolutely stunning,” Harry said in a blank tone as he continued to fold his clothes. 

“Well, if it doesn’t work, I’m always here. So you can date me, haha.” 

“Haha,” Harry laughed awkwardly. “I see you as a little sister, Ginny, but thanks for the offer.” He said with a slight laugh. The two both smiled at each other, and all was good. 

For Harry, that was one less thing he had to worry about. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter, but that's because the next chapter is going to be kind of long. 
> 
> it might take a while to come out because I want it to be perfect. 
> 
> Thank you for being patient <3


	19. Chapter 19

It was as if they had never crossed paths. The hallways were much quieter. The communication between the Gryffindor table and the Slytherin table in the Great Hall had come down immensely.

It was as if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had never met.

Most people just shrugged it off, thinking it was because of how Draco had gotten hurt by Harry.

Harry had found out about Horcruxes, and Draco was finishing off his job for Voldemort. The two of them were moving on with their lives, in completely opposite directions.

Completely against each other.

That night, Harry got a letter from Dumbledore, saying that he wanted to meet him in his office. He went at once. Anything to distract his mind. Anything to make him stop the pure heartbreak he was feeling, even if it was just for a while.

Harry accompanied Dumbledore to find the Horcrux. When they returned, Harry was trying his best to find someone to help Dumbledore.

They had returned at Hogsmeade. Madam Rosmerta came rushing up to them.

“I saw you Apparate as I was pulling my bedroom curtains! Thank goodness, thank goodness- but what’s wrong with Albus?”

“He’s hurt,” Harry explained. “I need to go get help for him at Hogwarts. Can you stay here with him as I do so?”

“You can’t go alone!” Madam Rosmerta exclaimed. “Haven’t you… seen? Are you not aware?”

“What has happened?” Dumbledore asked.

“The- the Dark Mark, Albus.”

Harry’s heart sank. His mind immediately went to…

“Draco,” Harry muttered under his breath, looking up at the sky, the green skull with a serpent tongue, hanging right above the Hogwarts castle.

It all clicked. That’s what Draco was doing in the Room of Requirement. That’s what Voldemort had set him to do.

But the question was, why?

Dumbledore and Harry got on Rosmerta’s brooms and they went up to Hogwarts.

“Harry, go and wake Severus,” Dumbledore ordered faintly. “Tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do not remove your Cloak.”

Harry bit his lip. “But-”

“You swore to obey me, Harry. Go!”

Harry hurried over to the door to leave when he heard footsteps on the other side. He turned to Dumbledore who waved his arm as if to tell Harry to come back. Harry did so. He stood a little far from Dumbledore.

That’s when the door slammed open. Harry, in an instant, knew exactly who it was.

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ” Draco Malfoy shouted at Dumbledore, and his wand flew out of his hands. Harry wanted to pull off his Cloak and talk to Draco, but he realized that he was bound. He turned and realized that Dumbledore was the one who had immobilized him.

Harry was finding it hard to register what was going on.

“I’ve got back-up. The Death Eaters are in your school tonight,” Draco was saying. Harry wanted to do something. He wanted to stop listening to what was happening, he wanted to leave. He didn’t want to listen to this.

“I-I’ve got a job to do.”

“Well, then you must get on and do it,” Dumbledore said in response.

Draco stayed still. His silver eyes were screaming for help. The hand he had pointed at Dumbledore with his wand was shaking. He was holding back tears.

The only way Harry knew this was because he found himself trying not to have tears down his face too.

“Draco, Draco, you are not a killer.”

“How would you know?” Draco asked. “Y-you don’t know what I’m capable of. You don’t know what I’ve done…”

“Oh, yes I do,” said Dumbledore. “You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been…”

The rest of the words echoed out of Harry’s ear. Draco was the one who had poisoned Ron.

“...that I wonder whether your heart has really been in it…” Dumbledore finished.

Draco said nothing.

The three heard a muffled yell below them. Draco glanced over his shoulder, trying to listen to more of the fight. He found himself hoping that Harry wasn’t in the middle of it.

Harry listened as Draco and Dumbledore continued to converse.

“I haven’t got any options…” Draco was mumbling. “I’ve got to do it. He’s going to kill me… He’s going to kill my family.”

The brown in Draco’s hair shined and glistened as Harry broke out of the bind, pushing the Cloak off of him.

“Your task was to kill Dumbledore,” he said at once. “You were set to kill Dumbledore?” Silver eyes met green ones. Dumbledore took a step back; almost as if he had been waiting for Harry to break out of the bind.

“Y-yes, I was,” Draco answered slowly. He wasn't surprised by Harry's sudden entrance. It was as if Draco knew he was there the whole time.

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” asked Harry.

“Harry, I’ve got no choice!” Draco cried out. His wand was now pointing at Harry.

“You did! You could have come to me! Draco, I told you I would have understood! Unless you actually want to kill him?”

“Harry, are you mad? Have you gone utterly crazy? Do you think I wouldn’t have told you if I could?” Draco asked, his voice cracking. “I wasn’t allowed to. I wasn’t going to. Harry, I so desperately wanted to tell you…”

“I don’t believe you,” Harry said, his voice cracking too.

“When do you ever?” Draco asked in an unsurprised, bitter tone. “Move out of the way.”

“No. I won’t let you kill him.”

“Fuck you, Harry! Stop making things harder than they already are!” shouted Draco. “Haven’t you done enough to me?”

Harry didn’t know what to say. Just then, the three heard footsteps approaching. Dumbledore cast a binding spell on Harry once again, and Draco quickly picked up the cloak, walking over to him and pulling it on Harry so he wouldn’t be seen.

The rest of the Death Eaters arrived, along with Snape.

And then, Severus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore.

The Death Eaters left. Harry was able to move again.

He pulled off his Invisibility Cloak and left to fight the Death Eaters.

*******

The funeral occurred. Draco didn’t show up for the funeral. Ginny stayed close to Harry, attempting to comfort him. It didn’t work at all, for Harry. No matter how mad he was with Draco, no matter how angry and betrayed he felt, he couldn’t help but miss him.

“We’ll be there, Harry,” Ron said when Harry told his two best friends how he was going to go in search for Horcruxes.

“What?” Harry asked in confusion.

“What, you thought we’d let you go on your own?” Hermione said with an eye roll. “Yeah, no way that’s happening.”

Harry smiled slightly.

“Besides, I don’t think you’d be able to handle being alone,” Hermione said quietly so that only Harry heard her. He snapped his head in her direction. Ron and Ginny fell into a conversation about Bill and Fleur’s wedding.

“There’s no point in trying to fool me,” Hermione said with a sigh.

“I’m not trying to fool anyone, Hermione,” Harry sighed.

“So you accept that you’re in love with Draco?”

“Accept? Merlin, I accepted that long ago. I was talking about how I accepted that I’m mad at Draco and I don’t think we’re going to get back together,” Harry muttered with another sigh.

Hermione smiled. “Always so overdramatic,” she said with an eye roll. “Besides, something tells me that it’s not over between you two.”

“Yeah, but something tells me that it is,” Harry said, frowning as he looked among the Slytherins that were conversing in the distance, most of them making their way back up to the castle.

This wasn’t the end.

It was merely the beginning of something new.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short as well, I know, but in my opinion, it's just the right amount and way to end their 6th year at Hogwarts. 
> 
> Look out for the next chapter. 
> 
> There will be a lot of changes for Draco and Harry.


	20. Chapter 20

They were gone. 

They were gone, in search for Horcruxes. And as focused Harry seemed like he was, he was always thinking about a certain silver-haired boy in the back of his mind, constantly worrying about how he was doing, what he was doing, and where he could possibly be. 

His head was an absolute mess. There was so much pressure on him, with the Horcruxes and everything. And all his heart was doing was adding to the pressure, yearning for someone who wasn’t going to come back to him. 

“Harry, we should switch now,” Hermione said as she walked out of the tent. She took in a deep breath, sitting down beside Harry who was staring into the blazing flames in front of him. “You okay?” asked Hermione.

Harry was hugging his knees, just deeply staring into the fire. 

“Send him a letter.” 

“Who?” 

“You know exactly who I’m talking about,” Hermione told him with an eye roll. “Send him a letter.” 

“Thank you, that totally won’t backfire in one either someone tracing us back here or two, him completely laughing at the letter and tearing it to pieces,” said Harry in response, still not looking at her. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “You miss him, though?” 

“It feels like someone just stabbed me with the same knife twenty-six times,” replied Harry as the two moved closer to each other, Harry leaning his head on her shoulder as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

“It’ll get better.”

“I sure as hell hope so.” 

*******

Ron left.

This just left Harry in more pressure, in more pain. His mind was clouded. So, that night, after Hermione slowly drifted off into a sleep, he got a piece of paper and started writing. 

_ Hey.  _

_ Ron stormed off today. He just… left. He told me I have no family. _

_ I mean, it’s true, right? _

_ You were my family. _

_ My mind feels like a mess. I can’t organize any thought in my head properly. It’s all a fucking mess, and I can’t do anything about it.  _

_ Everything hurts. My head, my chest, my heart.  _

_ My heart hurts thanks to you. _

_ I can’t stop thinking about you. What are you doing? More Death Eater work? Are you at Hogwarts? Or are you at Malfoy Manor? Are you thinking of me? Do you miss me? Do you still have feelings for me?  _

_ Why are you doing this to me? You should be the last thing on my mind right now. I’m supposed to be focusing on Voldemort. On anything but you. But here I am, writing this because my fucking brain won’t stop thinking about you and your stupid face.  _

_ Ugh, I miss your stupid face. I miss when we were together. I miss when you and I would meet every Saturday. And if we didn’t even talk, just your presence, just to have you with your arms wrapped around me, that was enough.  _

_ I would kill to have your arms wrapped around me right now.  _

_ I miss looking at your face. I miss catching your eye in the hallway and shouting something witty, and you shouting something ten times better right back. I miss your silver eyes, I miss your white hair. I miss kissing you. I miss being the only one who could cheer you up. I miss playing board games with you. I miss planning our future together. _

_ I know I shouldn’t be thinking this way. I mean, you’re a Death Eater. I’m Harry fucking Potter. We’re on opposite sides of a war, and here I am, hanging on to every shred of hope I have left that you still have feelings for me. _

_ Do you feel me thinking of you? Do you feel my brain constantly having you on my mind, when I’m supposed to be focusing on other things? Do you feel it too? Do you feel your heart constantly aching, as we grow further and further apart?  _

_ I hate you, I hate you so much. _

_ But we both know I don’t mean that at all. _

_ I don’t know what to do. It’s just Hermione and me now. And she’s not in the best state either. We both aren’t, especially me. I’m not exactly the best company to have around, as I’m constantly fucking daydreaming about someone who doesn’t even care about me anymore.  _

_ As much as I hate you right now, I hope you’re doing well.  _

_ I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re not hurt. I hope you’re not doing anything too extreme. In fact, I hope you’re at Hogwarts, safe from the Death Eater work.  _

_ And most of all, I hope that you’re really not on his side. _

Harry folded the piece of paper and put it inside his pocket, lying back on the bed. The letter hadn’t helped at all. He wanted to send it to Draco. He knew he couldn’t, and that he shouldn’t. If it got into the wrong hands…

Harry turned and fell asleep. 

*******

The next morning, the atmosphere was dead. Harry stepped outside and saw Hermione staring into the distance. “You okay?” 

All Hermione did was turn and look at him with gloom in her eyes. He slowly approached her. 

“Me too, ‘Mione, me too."

The two had to move places again, to make sure they wouldn’t be found. 

As they settled into the new area, the two sat outside right outside their tent, starting up a fire. 

“We sat in front of a fire once,” Harry started to mumble. “He told me about his family and everything. I felt awful for not being able to help him.”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione said with a frown. 

“I should have helped him, right?” 

“Don’t blame yourself for that, Harry.”

“Maybe I should,” Harry said, biting his lip. 

“Harry, look,” Hermione said. “Harry. Look at me,” she said sharply. Harry slowly turned to face her.

“I want you to get back with Draco. More than ever, Harry, I do. But you cannot let this take over your mind right now. We need to focus on the Horcruxes,” Hermione told him. Harry scoffed slightly. 

“Who said I wanted to get back together with him?” He asked with an eye roll. 

Hermione didn’t respond, simply giving him a ‘you can’t be serious’ look before turning away from him, looking into the fire.

Harry took in a deep breath, the icy cold air hitting against his face, as he slowly put a hand to his forehead. By now, he had been used to the fact that every time his scar hurt, his left arm would hurt too. 

With his arm feeling like it was about to be burnt off, and his head feeling like it was going to melt from the amount of pain coming from his scar, he took in a shaky breath. 

“I just miss… hating him.” Harry finally said. 

Hermione had been too caught up in everything to point out that every time Harry talked about Draco, the white streak in his hair would start shining and glinting. She had also been too caught up in everything to point out how the white streak in his hair was the exact same shade as Draco Malfoy’s. 

-

Ron was finally back. This made things better for Harry, and he could relax a bit more, but it was still so much work, coming up with good plans, tolerating Ron and Hermione’s bickering, having the pain from his scar and arm, and on top of that having Draco in the back of his mind 24/7. 

Harry had tried his best to do something other than think of Draco when it was his turn to be on the lookout. Luna and Hermione were right. He had to forget about Draco. 

For all Harry knew, Draco was probably in a meeting planning how to kill Harry with the rest of the Death Eaters. 

But Harry couldn’t forget the look in Draco’s eyes the night Dumbledore died. The utter look of shame, guilt, and pain. Draco couldn’t have possibly acted to be that way.

“Thinking about him again?” Hermione asked as she sat down beside Harry. 

“I-I know I shouldn’t be. Really…” Harry protested. “I just… I was just thinking of the look in Draco’s eyes the night that Dumbledore died.”

“Did you talk to him?” Hermione asked. “You never  _ did  _ tell us what fully happened. I just assumed it was because Ron was around.” 

Harry took in a deep breath. “Yes, I did. He told me that he was not allowed to tell me about the Death Eater task he was set to do. I told him I didn’t believe him. He told me to stop making things so hard.” 

“This was all in front of Dumbledore?” Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, it was as if Dumbledore was expecting for me to break out of the bind he-”

“Wait, you broke out of a bind that  _ Dumbledore  _ cast on you?” Hermione asked in astonishment. “How?”

“Well… I was just watching how Draco was trying not to cry, and how he was shaking as he pointed his wand at Dumbledore…”

Hermione took in a deep breath. “So Pansy was right,” she muttered under her breath, nodding at Harry. 

“Pardon?” 

“I just said, that’s interesting,” Hermione said. “Look, Harry, it’s really obvious that Draco isn’t-”

“What are you two talking about?” Ron asked, exiting the tent and joining the two. Hermione bit her tongue. 

“Just about Death Eaters,” Hermione lied (well, half lied), quickly changing the subject to something else. As Harry listened to their conversation, he couldn’t help but wonder what Hermione was trying to tell him. What was really obvious about Draco? Was he missing something completely? Was he just that oblivious to everything, including his love for Draco?

It seemed like the answer was yes.

Days later, the snatchers had found the three. They were captured.

And they were being sent right to Malfoy Manor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment your thoughts on this chapter? x 
> 
> p.s. not proofread so excuse me if I've made any mistakes - it's midnight as I post this
> 
> p.s 2: I just realized it might be a bit unclear in the chapter: Harry does not actually send the letter to Draco. 
> 
> just in case there's any confusion :)


	21. Chapter 21

It seemed like opening the window didn’t help; the room was still boiling hot. It was hotter outside than it was inside.

Draco Malfoy sat in his room in Malfoy Manor, sitting at his desk, reading a book.

Draco looked up as his mother entered the room. He then turned back to the book he was reading.

“Your father and I have decided that you won’t be returning to Hogwarts for the seventh year,” said Narcissa Malfoy, shutting the door behind her, staying by the door.

Draco said nothing.

“We think it’s better if you stay here, with us,” Narcissa told him. She sensed how tense Draco was, judging by his body language in that moment. “Both of us decided we want you here.”

“And, by both of you, you mean…” Draco slowly shut his book and turned to look at his mother.

“Your father,” admitted Narcissa, sighing. “But he does have your best interest at heart.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Let me just not finish my education, that’s doing what’s best for me,” said Draco sarcastically.

“Draco, this is not easy for anyone. We’re in a dark time,” she said, frowning at her son.

“Yes, mother, you’re right. Must be so hard being right under the Dark Lord’s wing.”

Narcissa took in a sharp breath, standing up and fixing her dress. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

“You say that with such a gloom on your face. Is it another Death Eater meeting?” Draco asked quietly. Narcissa slowly nodded, her blue eyes sparkling, with an emotion that Draco couldn’t read. Then, she turned and left, leaving her son to his thoughts.

********

“You’ve been set to some work, Draco,” said Lucius Malfoy as he entered Draco’s room. “You were not there for the meeting last night. The Dark Lord was not pleased.”

“Ah well, I hoped that not showing up would please him dearly,” Draco muttered to himself. Lucius didn’t hear what he said properly and decided to ignore it.

“Your job is to look for Harry Potter.”

Draco slightly flinched at the mention of his name, however, Lucius took no notice of it. “Go alone. Out of all of the Death Eaters, you know him best. Look at places he would go.”

“Is this the job the Dark Lord gave me, or you are giving me?” Draco asked. He was so done with this. He didn’t ask to be a Death Eater. He didn’t ask to be a part of this. He didn’t ask for any of this. And in result, he lost the one person he loved the most.

“Draco, if you find Harry Potter for the Dark Lord, he will be pleased. He will be very happy with us.”

With that, Lucius Malfoy gave Draco a demeaning glare before turning and leaving.

*******

Of course, Draco knew where Harry would go. That’s why he wasn’t able to find him. More so, he didn’t put in much effort to find him. He went to general places where Harry would usually hang out.

Draco spent most of his time wandering around, rather than actually trying to find Harry. Like hell, he was going to do what his father said. Even if he did manage to find Harry, he would probably send him even further away from the Death Eaters.

After a few hours of wandering about (and going to the Grimmauld Place and wandering about inside), Draco slowly made his way back to Malfoy Manor.

“No luck?” Narcissa Malfoy asked as Draco lied down on his bed. Draco didn’t respond. She slowly sat down at the foot of his bed. “Send them a letter.”

“Who?” Draco asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“I think it’s very obvious,” said Narcissa. Draco turned to look at his mother. Had Snape told her about Harry? “Send a letter to whoever’s on your mind.”

“H...how do you know there’s someone on my mind?” asked Draco, slowly sitting up.

“You’re different.”

Draco raised an eyebrow.

“From last summer. This time, when you came back. You’re different. It’s hard to explain,” she said in response, frowning. “I can only assume that you are having problems with someone you’re dating.”

Draco took in a deep breath. “Y-you could say that, yeah.”

“So, send them a letter,” Narcissa said with a small smile. “If not for you, do it for them.”

Draco noticed how his mother didn’t assume that it was a girl, and how she remained careful with the pronouns. Narcissa reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently before standing up.

“Don’t listen to your father. I want you to stay in Malfoy Manor, okay? Who knows what’s going to happen if you go without anyone with you.”

Draco nodded slowly. His mother turned and left. Then he lied back down on his bed and turned over, scoffing at the idea of sending Harry a letter.

********

Another meeting as the summer came to end and autumn began. This time, Draco was forced to join the meeting.

After everyone left, Draco quickly slipped and left to his dorm. He couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed a piece of paper, a quill, and ink.

He stared out the window, up into the sky. The atmosphere was cold, empty. He turned back to the empty paper and starting writing. Pouring his heart and soul, furiously writing away. He didn’t even notice when Narcissa slowly opened the door and called out his name.

Narcissa smiled at her son, before slowly shutting the door and leaving him to his thoughts.

********

Another meeting. Another letter.

The promise he had made to himself; that he would make only one letter to Harry to keep for himself, was broken.

There lied on Draco’s desk, a pile of letters stacked together. Meeting after meeting became week after week, which became night after night.

Draco wrote, and wrote, and wrote until he was almost asleep at his desk. He would write the most random thoughts that would pop up in his head. But he would also write the thoughts that had been lurking in the back of his mind for months.

Sometime in January, Draco was writing what may have been his thirtieth letter. He had forced himself to stop during October and November and started again on the first of January.

Someone slowly knocked on the door. Draco hadn’t noticed since he was busy writing away on the paper. He also hadn’t noticed that his Dark Mark and forehead was hurting deeply.

Snape slowly entered. “Draco, I need to talk to you.”

Draco slowly stopped writing, folding the paper and putting it to the side. “What about?” He asked in a tone that made it seem like he cared when in reality he didn’t.

“Do you want to know how I found out about your and Potter’s little… _relationship_?” asked Snape as he slowly walked over to the window, looking outside.

“By looking into my mind?” Draco answered, confused. “Why’s that important now?”

“You’ll see soon, Draco,” said Snape. “The reason I found out was because of this theory. A legend, you could say.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“Do you often wonder about that brown strip in your hair?” Snape asked. Draco slowly turned to his mirror, his hand going to the brown streak in his hair.

“Well, yes, but it could just be a wizard thing-”

“It is. An ancient legend, that no one believes to be true. I didn’t believe it myself, either.”

“Um… okay?”

“I guess there’s no point in telling you… I think this is something you should find out for yourself.”

Then, without another word, Snape turned and left, leaving Draco confused. 

*******

“Draco, I need you to send a letter for me,” said Narcissa as she entered his room.

Late March.

“Whom to?”

“Just to a friend. The…  Greengrass’s,” Narcissa said. “You can use my owl.”

Draco slowly stood up, grimacing as he remembered about Astoria Greengrass kissing him. “Alright, fine. What do you want it to say?”

“Just to ask how they’re doing and if they’d like to be invited to dinner.”

“Ah yes,” Draco said as he quickly got out his quill and ink, “dinner with the Dark Lord and the Greengrass’s. Quite fun. It’s for sure going to be a party in here!”

“Draco, don’t,” Narcissa warned, frowning at her son, who was frowning too. She hadn’t seen a single smile on his face since his fifth year. “I’ll go get the owl.”

Narcissa returned with the family owl, Dodger. She placed him on the table.

“Whenever you’re ready, send it,” Then she left his room. Draco searched his drawer for a blank sheet of paper and realized he hadn’t had any left in his room. He quickly slipped out and found a stack of papers lying on the table in the hallway.

When he got back into his room, he saw Dodger had picked up the stack of letters that Draco had written that was meant for Harry.

He had tied them together in a red ribbon and wrote ‘Harry Potter’ in the front.

“Okay, no, let go of that,” Draco said, but the owl was fast. It flew out of reach. “Okay, no. That’s not the letter you’re supposed to send.”

Dodger seemed like he wasn’t paying attention. More so, he was ignoring Draco. Both Dodger and Draco’s eyes moved to the window, that was wide open. Narcissa must have left it open for the owl to go out of.

“Dodger, no,” Draco said slowly. He was still for a few seconds, and so was Dodger, before he ran towards the window to close it. But Dodger was too fast.

The brown owl flew out of the window and out into the sky, in search of Harry Potter.

“Well, fuck me,” Draco muttered to himself.

Dodger had returned a few weeks later.

_I can’t believe I’m writing this._

_I specifically told myself I wouldn’t write a letter to you._

_Another meeting occurred. They said they couldn’t find you. I guess that’s good. I don’t want you being found. I don’t want you to die._

_Are you okay? How are you doing? Do you think of me? Do you miss me like I miss you? Do you still… have feelings for me?_

_How I wish I could wrap my arms around you right now. I miss you. I miss all of you. Your green eyes, your hair, your face, your lips, your touch, your everything._

_Please don’t forget me. Please don’t die. ~~I love you.~~ _

__\- D.M._ _

_I can’t believe I’m writing a second letter. We had another Death Eater meeting. It just gets worse and worse. I keep quiet and don’t say much during the meetings. I think it’s better off that way._

_I think if I start speaking I’ll end up killing everyone in the room for talking bad about you._

_I can’t see a single thing that’s actually bad about you. You have so much good in your heart, in your soul. I don’t deserve you. The whole time we were together, that’s what constantly went through my mind._

_How I didn’t deserve your kindness, your love, your trust._

_But I guess you learned that yourself._

_\- D.M._

_The sky is beautiful tonight. It’s a beautiful shade of blue._

_But no shade can beat the colour of your sparkling, bright green eyes. I loved just staring into them, your beautiful, beautiful eyes._

_They made me go searching for you a few weeks ago, you know. I didn’t actually look for you, of course. That would be stupid._

_But a part of me hoped that I would find you as I wandered around the streets._

_I thought I saw you at one point. I almost had a heart attack, only to realise it was a stupid Muggle who in reality looked nothing like you._

_I miss you so much that my eyes are starting to play tricks on me._

_I hope you’re not dead. I hope you’re alive, I hope you’re going to put an end to this war._

__\- D.M._ _

_I miss you so much today._

_I miss everything about you._

_I miss your laugh, your smile, your face, your hair, your eyes, your over-dramatic self, your clinginess._

_I miss how we would talk for hours on end on Saturdays. I miss holding you. I miss being there for you. I miss loving you. I miss having to sneak around Hogwarts to make sure no one saw us together._

_I miss that simpler time. Where the only thing you and I cared about was getting caught._

_If I could go back in time, I would tell you everything right from the beginning. I wouldn’t hesitate._

_This is all my fault. It’s my fault things ended up this way. You have every right to never want to see my face again. I should have told you. I should have been honest._

_I did everything wrong, Harry._

_I thought if I told you, I’d be making a terrible mistake._

_But the terrible mistake was that I didn’t tell you when I should have._

__\- D.M._ _

_I should have told you._

__\- D.M._ _

 

_I don’t blame you for using that spell on me. I don’t blame you for hating me, for feeling like I’ve betrayed you._

_I don’t blame you for any of it._

_I blame myself because it’s my fault._

_Please don’t think any of this is your fault._

_Please blame me_

_Not yourself_

_Don’t blame anyone_

_But me_

  _ _\- D.M.__

-

“Draco, we need you,” said Narcissa as she entered Draco’s room in a rush.

“What now?” Draco asked, not looking up from the book he was reading.

“We need you to see if the person we just caught is Harry Potter or not.”

  
  
  



	22. Chapter 22

Draco slowly entered the room.

Lucius Malfoy grabbed Draco by the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer.

“Draco, if we are the ones who hand over Potter to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiven,” said Lucius, before pushing Draco forwards towards the boy who was kneeling, his deformed face making him unrecognizable.

“Now, we won’t be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?” said Greyback.

“Of course not, of course not!”

Draco refused to look at the boy in the eye.

“What did you do to him?” asked Lucius as he took a small step forward so he could see Harry’s face clearer.

“That wasn’t us.”

“Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me,” Lucius was saying.

Draco wasn’t listening. He was too focused on Harry to be thinking or listening to anything else.

“Come closer, Draco, dear,” Bellatrix said softly, taking his hand and pulling him closer to Harry. Draco kneeled too, finally letting himself look at him. “Is it him? Is it Harry Potter?”

Of course it was. Draco recognized him from the minute he had entered the room. Of course he did.

It was Harry, after all.

Draco looked into his sparkling green eyes. No one’s eyes shined this way. Only Harry could make Draco feel this way.

“I don’t think it’s him,” Draco said in less than a whisper.

After a lot of chatter (that Draco wasn’t paying attention to), Bellatrix finally spoke up.

“Very well, then,” Bellatrix said. “Send the prisoners down to the cellars. Except for the Mudblood.”

Narcissa walked over to take Ron and Harry down.

“N-no, I’ll do it,” said Draco in a shaky voice, slowly standing up and grabbing Harry by the shoulder, pulling him up. He then took Ron and pulled the two down the passageway and down to the cellar.

Harry looked up at Draco who had entered the cellar along with them, looking around the area frantically.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked Draco, watching him.

“Looking for a way for you to get out of here,” muttered Draco as he looked around, a confused, searching look on his face.

“You know it’s me,” said Harry in astonishment.

“Of course I do, are you crazy? It’s you, for Merlin’s sake. I’d recognize you if you were in someone else’s body.” Draco replied impatiently, looking around.

“I don’t think there’s a way out, Draco,” Harry told him quietly. Draco sighed in defeat. Ron was busy talking to Luna who had appeared to be in the cellar for days.

“ _Luna_?” Harry asked in astonishment. His head turned to Draco, who looked away in shame. Harry took in a deep breath. Draco turned to leave. “Wait, Draco!” Harry called after him, grabbing his hand. Draco turned at once.

“What?”

“Don’t die,” Harry whispered, “not while I’m mad at you.”

“Right back at you, love,” Draco whispered back, before turning to leave.

Their hands that were intertwined slowly let go of each other as Draco left the cellar.

When Dobby had Apparated Harry and Ron out of the cellar, Harry went running towards Draco, tackling him to the ground.

“I’m in need of a wand,” Harry whispered, staring down at Draco who had three wands in his hands: Hermione’s, Ron’s, and his. Draco quickly and carefully pushed Harry off of him, making it seem like the way he pushed him off was brutal. Draco handed over the three wands in his hands.

“W-wait, don’t give me yours,” Harry whispered. Everyone else in the room was too busy fighting to notice that the two were on the floor, talking.

“Take it, Harry,” Draco whispered. Harry hesitantly took it and stood up, quickly walking over to Dobby.

And then they quickly Apparated away along with Hermione and Ron.

*********

“Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.

You have until midnight.”

Harry looked around the Great Hall, making eye contact with Pansy who bit her lip and stared back at him with a grave look on her face.

“He’s right there! Why don’t we just hand him over?” One of the Slytherins shouted. All of a sudden, the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws stood in front of Harry, facing the Slytherins. Pansy quickly stood up and joined them, slowly going to stand beside Harry.

“Thanks, Pansy,” Harry whispered as the Gryffindors started talking to the Slytherins.

“No need to thank me, Harry,” said Pansy, smiling at him before taking in a deep breath.

“Where’s Draco?”

“Probably with the Death Eaters outside the school…”

Harry nodded and quickly turned. It was time to come up with a plan.

********

In the Room of Requirement, Harry had finally found the diadem.

“Harry.”

Harry slowly turned and saw Draco standing there, who was slowly lowering his wand. Harry bit his lip and took Draco’s wand out of his back pocket, to show Draco.

The two broke into a small smile as Harry went to stand right in front of him. “Do you need it? I reckon using your mother’s wand isn’t the same.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Draco replied, his silver eyes glistening, before shaking his head. “No, you keep it, for as long as you need, love.”

Harry smiled at Draco. “So we’re on the same side, then?” asked Harry, his green eyes sparkling as he looked into Draco’s eyes, slowly putting the wand away and taking Draco’s hands, holding onto them tightly.

“Always.”

Harry pulled Draco into a hug. Draco hugged him right back as if he had been aching to hug Harry all this while.

Spoiler alert: he _had_ been aching to hug Harry all this while.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Harry whispered slowly. “Please don’t.”

“What?”

“I don’t blame you. I don’t hate you. And I certainly don’t think you don’t deserve me. We both made mistakes. It wasn’t only you. So don’t blame yourself.”

“The letters,” Draco whispered in realization. Harry nodded. “You read them all?”

“Each and every one of the forty-one that you wrote,” Harry answered with a smile. There were tears welling up in Draco’s eyes. Harry pulled him closer. “Listen… if I die tonight-”

“Don’t you dare fucking say that. No sentence ends well if it starts like that,” Draco’s voice shaky, but firm at the same time. He was now stroking Harry’s hair holding him close.

“Listen, Draco. If I die tonight, I don’t want to leave you with unfinished things,” Harry whispered. “So I’m going to say what I need to right now.”

“H-Harry, don’t.” Draco was now on the verge of tears, and so was Harry.

“I-I overreacted. I was just hurt. I thought you were on his side. I didn’t know,” Harry whispered. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away so harshly. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.

“But now I realize you were on my side all along. And I feel so, _so_ stupid. So, I want to thank you.” Harry went on. “Thank you for everything.”

“Harry-”

“Please, let’s just leave it at that,” Harry whispered in a hoarse voice with a whimper. Draco nodded. Harry leaned forward, and softly placed his lips on Draco’s, kissing him softly, gently, with love and with pain.

“Mate, what the bloody hell are you doing?!” screamed Ron, who received a strong, harsh kick from Hermione who was right beside him.

“ _Not_ right now, Ron,” Hermione told him in a whisper, before turning back to look at Draco and Harry, smiling to herself.

Harry and Draco pulled apart. “Let’s go, shall we?” Harry asked, taking Draco’s hand, who nodded. “Come on, Hermione, Ron.”

“You! And Malfoy! Malfoy! And you! Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy! My best friend, and Draco Malfoy! My enemy, and my best friend!”

Draco and Harry exchanged glances, before smiling at each other.

“Join the Death Eaters,” Harry told Draco, realizing there was no time and no point in explaining anything to Ron at that moment. “At least make it _seem_ like you’re on their side.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Draco replied with an eye roll. “You know that I’m on your side, right?”

Harry nodded, smiling at Draco. “I know, Draco.”

“I’ll see you on the other side?”

“See you on the other side, love.”

*******

“Harry Potter… is dead!” cried out Voldemort.

Draco, who was standing beside Pansy, nearly fell over when he heard the words being said. Pansy looked around, in search of Hermione, who was too astonished herself to be thinking of anything.

“Harry Potter is dead!” repeated Voldemort, looking around at everyone. Draco took in a deep breath.

It echoed in his head. The words went into his brain. But he couldn’t register it. His heart stopped, and his body practically jolted upright.

That’s when he looked up and saw Harry’s body being carried by Hagrid.

_It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t._

Draco slowly fell to his knees, absolutely astonished, his eyes prickling with tears that threatened to fall down any second. He couldn’t register it. Nausea filled Draco’s stomach. His heart was struggling to keep a steady beat, and his chest felt like a wolf was eating at it, ripping out his skin, his heart, leaving him with nothing.

_It couldn’t be true._

“Draco!” he heard his father hissing. Draco slowly got on his two feet, trembling as his father motioned for him to come over to him. Draco slowly, and carefully, took a few steps towards Voldemort. He turned to face Harry’s body.

Idle. Still. Lifeless.

_It couldn’t be true._

Still trembling, the white-haired boy refused to look at his lover’s killer in the eye, reluctantly getting out his mother’s wand that was in his pocket, and Apparating away.

_It couldn’t be true._

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	23. Chapter 23

He didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to  _ do _ . 

Draco had Apparated to the first place he thought of: Grimmauld Place. 

He had entered slowly. He was more in shock than anything. It had only registered in his head until he had reached one of the bedrooms, sinking to the floor as he stared into space. 

Memories were flooding his brain, too fast for him to stop himself from doing so.

_ “Get out,” he had demanded. _

_ Harry had pulled him into a hug.  _

_ “Potter, get off of me!" _

_ “Draco. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” _

He was gone.

There was so damn much that Draco hadn’t told him. So many things left unfinished. 

And it was all his fault. 

Draco stood up, shaking. He turned to the wall. He kicked, he punched, he banged his head against the wall until he had no more energy left. There was nothing helping him feel better. Absolutely nothing. Everything was gone. 

The reason Draco had been fighting was gone.

It had been long since Draco first started crying. His head felt heavy, his eyelids struggling to stay open every now and then. 

It was a wonder how Draco’s eyes hadn’t dried out yet. His eyes bloodshot red, as he leaned against the wall, hugging his knees, shaking immensely.

_ “Draco! Er… I know this a lot to ask, but do you mind if you stay until I fall asleep?”  _

_ “Sure…” Draco had sat down, eyeing Harry with a confused expression on his face. _

_ “It’s just… after Sirius died…” Harry trailed off into silence. “No, nevermind.”  _

_ “You find it hard to sleep?” Draco had asked quietly, trying hard not to seem mocking, or rude. _

_ “And nightmares too…” _

It was the first time Draco had realized that he had feelings for Harry Potter. 

_ “You do have a point, but honestly, I think I just felt a bug crawl down my shirt.” _

_ “I know, I saw it crawl into your sweater.”  _

_ Draco dropped the basket and started to take off his sweater. Harry had a feeling Draco would do that and immediately caught the basket before bursting into laughter.  _

_ “Draco, calm down, I was just joking!” He said through fits of laughter. _

_ “You fucking prat!” He had yelled, putting it his sweater back on and glaring at Harry who was still laughing uncontrollably. Draco had secretly enjoyed it.  _

_ He enjoyed looking at Harry’s face as it lit up, as he laughed, as he smiled.  _

_ “Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Harry said as Draco had raised his hand smack him. “You’ve got to admit, that was hilarious,” Harry said after Draco calmed down. Harry absentmindedly took Draco’s hand, intertwining them. Draco was caught off guard but tried to play it off cool.  _

_ Draco’s palm went sweaty and Harry’s did too, but they both were too nervous to break off the hand holding. _

_ “It was absolutely not funny. If I did that to you, you’d be fuming.” Draco had pointed out and Harry simply shrugged.  _

_ “So, you asked Pansy to help you out with getting ready for the date,” Harry said, changing the subject so Draco wouldn’t still be upset. But at this, Draco went pink and mumbled something that Harry couldn’t hear because of how softly he had said it. “Pardon?”  _

_ “I was nervous,” Draco muttered a little louder, avoiding eye contact with Harry. He chuckled softly at Draco.  _

_ “I don’t think you have anything to be embarrassed about, as Pansy already sort of knew. Me, I had to make up a story so that Hermione wouldn't ask so many questions.”  _

Their first date. They never did have an official second date, but neither of them had a problem with that at all. Just being around the other was fulfilling enough for the two. 

And now that was gone. 

_ “Draco, do you ever wonder what it’s going to be like when people find out about us?” Harry had asked one Saturday. Draco looked up from his book, biting his lip as he stared into Harry’s green eyes.  _

_ It had been one of their Study Saturdays, where they met up and did homework. Most of the time, their Study Saturdays had just resulted in them either bickering about the answers to the homework or making out. There was no in between. _

_ But on this day, Harry had been awfully quiet and Draco had noticed it. _

_ “Well, I don’t know, Harry,” Draco had replied truthfully. “I know that it certainly won’t be the same.”  _

_ “What? Why?” Harry had asked, getting nervous, thinking that maybe Draco didn’t want anyone knowing about their relationship because it would be an insult to him or something of the sort. _

_ “Because,” Draco said, shutting his book and crawling over to sit on Harry’s lap, “then I’ll be able to do this right in front of everyone.” Then he pulled Harry into a deep kiss, pulling him closer, and Harry had gladly kissed back. _

_ “Besides,” Draco said after they pulled apart, both panting, “then everyone will know you’re mine and that bitch Ginny will stop flirting with you all the time.” Draco’s breathing evened out as Harry stared him. _

_ “Ginny does not flirt with me,” Harry said with an eye roll.  _

_ “Oh, please. I saw her during dinner last night. She was holding your hand and everything.” _

_ “Come on, I hold hands with my friends all the time.”  _

_ “Oh, yeah? Like who? I don’t suppose you and Ron just walk down the hallways holding hands?” _

_ “...you’ve got a point, but she didn’t mean anything by it… Ginny doesn’t see me like that,” Harry said with an eye roll.  _

_ “Merlin, save me, my boyfriend’s an absolute idiot.” _

_ Harry blinked in confusion. “What?” asked Harry, confused, staring at Draco who was rolling his eyes. _

_ “Oh, nothing… nothing. You know you’re mine, right?” Draco asked as he leaned forward, kissing Harry’s neck softly, which caused the brown-haired boy have a shiver run down his spine as he slowly nodded. _

_ “Of course I’m yours… who else’s would I be?” _

Harry was Draco’s. Draco was Harry’s.

That’s how it was, and that’s how they planned for it to be. Always.

But it was gone. What they had was gone. 

“Draco?” A muffled voice called. 

Draco couldn’t hear the voice over his soft sobs. 

“Draco?” A voice called out louder. Draco’s eyes flickered open, and he looked up. 

“Harry?” whispered Draco. He slowly stood up, almost tripping as he tried to balance himself, his head heavy, his heart still hurting. Draco slowly walked to the door, slowly going to stand in the hallway. 

A brown-haired boy turned to face the silver-haired boy at that exact moment. Their eyes met, and suddenly the brown-haired boy was running, right into the silver-haired boys arms. 

Harry jumped right on Draco, wrapping his arms around him tightly and his legs around his waist.

This time, Draco knew how heavy Harry was, and held him, until his knees gave away and he sank to the floor, sobbing, his arms tight around Harry.

This feeling was unexplainable. 

They stayed this way for a while before they calmed themselves. Harry slowly pulled his head back to look at Draco. 

“Y-you’re alive,” Draco managed to say, in a hoarse voice. “You’re h...here.” Harry nodded, laughing slightly as the tears ran down his face. 

“I love you.”

The words escaped their mouths at the exact same time. The two smiled at each other. 

“I should have said it sooner. I should have told you.” Harry said, using one of his hands to stroke Draco’s cheek. Draco adjusted his legs and held onto Harry tighter. “I can’t believe I didn’t tell you that I love you sooner.”

“Well… you have once.” Draco said, sheepishly smiling at the green-eyed boy. “In the Hospital Wing. It was late at night and I was just visiting you. You took my hand… and told me that you love me too.” 

“Well, that’s fucking embarrassing,” mumbled Harry. The two chuckled. Draco leaned forward to kiss Harry’s cheek, and at the exact moment, Harry turned so that their lips met. 

It was a rough, passionate kiss. One that showed how they longed for each other, one that showed how much they had missed the other. 

The two pulled apart, panting, grinning at each other, staring into each other’s eyes. That’s when Draco burst out laughing. 

“Harry, you need to take a fucking shower.”

********

Draco sat on the bed, reading a book, waiting for Harry to get out of the shower. It had been a few hours since the two were reunited. Draco found some food in the kitchen and quickly made something for Harry to eat. It tasted horrible but Harry wolfed it down anyways, the taste did not matter to him. 

After a long banter, Draco was finally able to convince Harry to get into the shower. Draco didn’t seem to realize why Harry was so against going in the shower, but when he got out, it soon wasn’t a mystery anymore.

His face still, he slowly entered the room, wearing nothing but his towel. 

“That was literally an hour,” Draco said, not looking up from his book, but decided not to pry. “I left fresh clothes on the bed over there.” Draco added, pointing to the bed next to him. When Harry didn’t respond, Draco slowly looked up to see Harry just staring into space. 

“Harry?” Draco quickly shut his book and walked over to Harry, who quickly shook his head and cleared his throat. 

“No… s...s… sorry, yeah,” said Harry, slowly walking over to the bed and putting on his clothes, which were technically Draco’s. Draco frowned as he watched. 

“Are you okay, love?” Draco asked quietly, placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder, who flinched when he did so. 

“Yes, I’m fine, Draco,” lied Harry, giving Draco a reassuring smile. “I’m fine.” 

“I need to go to Malfoy Manor,” Draco said as he looked around. “I need to get lots of things.” 

It had been an unspoken agreement that Draco and Harry would be staying at the Grimmauld Place for the summer, maybe even longer. 

“What? You’re going to go now?” Harry asked as his face fell. 

“I won’t be gone for long,” replied Draco as he turned, looking around for his wand. “Thirty minutes at the most. I reckon I’ll be cornered by mother about my whereabouts and such.” 

“Do you really need to go?” Harry asked, taking a hold of Draco’s hands, before quickly burying his face in Draco’s chest. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” Draco answered with a sigh. “I’m sorry, love. But I won’t be long. Will you be alright?” He asked in a gentle whisper. He slowly and carefully picked up Harry and set him down on the bed, covering him with blankets and biting his lip. “Try to sleep. I reckon you haven’t in a while.” 

Harry nodded, slowly taking off his glasses and putting them to the side. Draco leaned down and kissed Harry’s forehead.

“I’ll be back soon.” 

*********

Leaving Harry alone had not been a good idea. When Draco had returned (about an hour later because of his mother), he saw that Harry wasn’t in bed like he had been when Draco had left. 

“Harry?” Draco had called out. He had received no response from Harry. After a few minutes of searching, he had found Harry curled up in a ball in the corner of the living room, shaking terribly. Draco had then wrapped his arms around Harry in an attempt to make him feel better. 

That was a week ago. 

“Harry, I made breakfast.”

Harry bit his lip, unsure how to feel about Draco Malfoy, someone who has never cooked before, made breakfast. He sat down at the table reluctantly. 

“Am I sure I want to eat this?” asked Harry truthfully, frowning at Draco who gasped in response.

“Excuse me? Are you saying that I can’t cook?” 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” 

“Wow, fuck you, Harry.”

“Maybe later,” Harry said in response, starting to eat. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste so bad, but Harry’s stubborn arse didn’t admit that to Draco (but Draco could already tell that Harry liked the food). 

The two did have nightmares every so often. On nights where Harry had nightmares, you would find Draco with his arms around Harry, snuggled up in bed, holding him close, Draco telling Harry how much he loves him over and over again. 

On nights where Draco had nightmares, Harry would turn on the dim lamplight at the bedside table, grab a book and hold Draco close, reading out stories to him, mostly ones from Draco’s childhood. The mornings after, you’d find them sleeping in odd positions, either curled up together or completely apart from each other, the book somehow on the other side of the room.

On nights where both of them were feeling lonely, they’d make out in bed, not saying a word to each other. After a huge heated make-out session, they’d cuddle close in  bed, both not saying anything. Sometimes one would ask what the other was thinking about. 

“A lot,” is what they both would respond to the question. And despite knowing the answer each time, they’d still take turns in asking each other.

Despite the fact that everything was supposed to be fine, perhaps things were not actually fine. 

  


__   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love and hate this at the same time


	24. Chapter 24

It had been four weeks since the war had ended. Four weeks since Harry had defeated Voldemort. 

Harry woke slowly on a Monday morning. He looked around the blurry room as he sat up, reaching over to the bedside table and feeling around for his glasses until he finally found them and slowly put them on, finally being able to see properly. 

Harry slowly entered the kitchen and saw Draco at the counter. He sat down at the table, where a plate of food was set. Harry turned and looked at the clock. 

“It’s 1 in the afternoon!” Harry exclaimed in awe, turning to face Draco who had his back to Harry. 

“I’m aware.” replied Draco in a blank tone.

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Harry asked. Draco turned, revealing a bruise on his cheek. “What happened?”

“You fucking threw a book at me when I tried waking you up!” 

“Oh. Then I guess that wasn’t a dream…” Harry said, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, love.” 

“Just eat,” Draco replied with an eye roll, folding his arms as he leaned against the counter. Draco had made bacon and eggs. Harry slowly and hesitantly took a bite out of the eggs, feeling Draco’s eyes on him. Harry immediately spit out the eggs after barely chewing. Draco’s eyes widened as he stared at Harry. 

“Oh dear lord, that tastes horrible!” Harry exclaimed, staring down at the food. 

“What? Really?” 

“Please don’t make me eat that ever again! Were you trying to ruin my taste buds? There’s too much salt! Too much!” Harry announced dramatically, glancing up at Draco with horror on his face. “It tastes disgusting!” 

Draco, who was staring down at the floor, slowly looked up at Harry, a dark look on his face.

“You have 3 seconds to run.” 

“What?” Harry asked, blinking in confusion. 

“3...2…” 

Harry jumped out of his chair and ran out of the kitchens as fast as he could, hearing Draco’s footsteps close behind him. Harry ran down the hallway, then into one of the rooms, then out of the room as soon as Draco entered, before eventually running into the living room. 

Draco didn’t give in. He continued to chase Harry around. Then, he did something that Harry really wasn’t expecting. Draco jumped right on top of Harry’s back, and Harry went falling down, hitting the hard floor facefirst. 

Harry groaned loudly in pain, slowly turning so that he was facing Draco who was right on top of him. “That fucking hurt!” 

“So did your words!” said Draco dramatically, pouting. Harry rolled his eyes and leaned forward, pulling Draco close to him, into a rough, passionate kiss. “Mhm…” Draco hummed softly as he shut his eyes, his tongue dancing inside Harry’s mouth. 

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck, adjusting himself as he deepened the kiss, letting out a soft, low moan when Draco started to kiss Harry’s neck. The two were so wrapped in each other, starting to make out again, that they didn’t hear the sound of two people Apparating into the room. 

“Oh, bloody hell! My  _ eyes _ !” screeched Ron Weasley in horror, hiding behind Hermione and shutting his eyes tightly in hopes of removing the disturbing image of his best friend and his enemy making out on the floor of Grimmauld Place. 

Draco slowly sat up and so did Harry, both awkwardly staring at Ron and Hermione. Harry cleared his throat and bit his lip. 

“Um. Good afternoon,” Harry greeted, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. “Um… Ron, I’m sorry that you-” 

“Bloody hell, please don’t,” Ron cut him off, shuddering before calming himself and taking a step closer to Harry. “We just came to see what you were going to do.” 

“About what?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Is something wrong?” He asked in a panicked tone. Draco had recognized the tone; it was the same tone he used when he woke up from a nightmare. Draco reached out and took a hold of  Harry’s hand, squeezing it gently. Harry smiled at him slightly before turning back to Ron and Hermione. 

“You didn’t get the letters yet?” Ron asked, confused. Hermione looked around and saw two owls at the window, patiently waiting for someone to open it. 

“If you guys could actually pay attention to what’s happening around you for once…” Hermione muttered in an annoyed tone, but Harry knew. Harry knew how grateful Hermione was when he sent her a letter saying that he and Draco would be staying at Grimmauld Place. She took the two letters from the owls, handing one each to Harry and Draco. 

Harry looked down at the note, recognizing the stamp at once. “Oh. This is a letter from-”

“Hogwarts,” Draco cut him off, quickly opening the letter. “Why are they sending us a letter?” Harry opened his letter too, curious. 

_ Dear Mr. H. Potter,  _

_ We are pleased to inform you that you are offered a place at Hogwarts for an Eighth Year.  _

“An eighth year?!” Harry asked in astonishment, adjusting his glasses as he looked over to Hermione and Ron. Hermione grinned at Harry, nodding. 

“Yes! It’s basically going to be like the seventh year, but for the people who were unable to finish the seventh year last year,” Hermione explained, glancing over to Draco who was staring at his letter. “What do you think? Should we go for an eighth year?” 

Harry looked over at Draco, opening his mouth to speak, but no words coming out. Their hands were still intertwined, and Ron looked away from sight of it. It had been a month since he had found out, but Ron still found it hard to comprehend that the two were together. 

“I mean… I don’t know…” Harry finally said, setting the paper down and running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know… how I feel about going back there…” he said in a more quiet tone, looking down, feeling stupid; childish, that he had said that; that  he had said it so weakly, so vulnerably. 

No one said anything, which just made Harry feel even worse. Draco gently squeezed Harry’s hand again, giving him a reassuring look as he pulled Harry close to him, wrapping his arms around him. Harry slowly crawled onto Draco’s lap, resting his head on his chest.

“It’s okay, Harry. Hogwarts is safer now.” Draco whispered. He was well aware of Hermione and Ron watching the two, and he was feeling extremely awkward, but he made an attempt to make Harry feel better anyway. 

Hermione and Ron shifted uncomfortably in their spot, exchanging glances. They hadn’t even thought about how Harry must have been feeling, about going back to Hogwarts, about the war, how he could be feeling.

“Draco,” Harry had managed to choke out, “what if it i...isn’t?” Draco looked up at Hermione and Ron, a panicked expression on his face. He felt his shirt dampening as Harry buried his face into Draco’s chest.

Draco knew what was coming.

*********

“He just fell asleep,” Draco said as he entered the kitchen, awkwardly leaning against the counter as Hermione and Ron stared at him, a grim look on both their faces. “I got him to calm down…” 

“I take it that this has happened before,” Hermione stated, referring to how Draco had picked up Harry, whispering reassuring things into his ear and stroking his hair gently, and taking him to the room the two were sleeping in. “And I take it that you can handle it well.” 

“Ah… well, things haven’t exactly been perfect around here. But we’ve been working on it,” replied Draco, glancing over at Ron, before slowly looking away, turning back to Hermione. “It’s just the whole thought about going to back to Hogwarts… I’ll talk to him.” 

“Yes… we better get going.” Hermione said, getting the hint at once. “But I do want to make sure Harry’s alright… we’ll come by again tomorrow.” Draco nodded, biting at his thumb as he watched Hermione and Ron Apparate away. 

Draco slowly exited the kitchen and went to the room, slowly slipping into the bed and watching as Harry turned in his sleep. Draco slowly reached out and stroked Harry’s hair, frowning. 

“Have they left?” Harry asked as he slowly opened his eyes. “I’m sorry for-” 

“Don’t apologize, it isn’t your fault,” Draco said softly as Harry slowly sat up. Draco continued to stroke Harry’s hair. It was comforting for Harry. “What do you think, Harry? Should we go for an eighth year?” 

“You’ll come?” Harry asked, blinking in confusion. Draco rolled his eyes. 

“What, you think I’d just leave you? Of course, I’ll come! I didn’t get to do my seventh year either, you know.” 

“Yes, I know. I read your letters, remember? You talked about how you wished we were at-” 

“Oh please don’t remind me of that, I cringe just thinking about it… I poured my heart into those letters.” 

“I didn’t know Draco Malfoy was capable of having such a soft heart,” Harry teased, chuckling softly. 

“And I didn’t think you were capable of being heartless, but here we are.” 

“What? How am I  _ heartless _ ?” 

“You insulted my cooking skills! And told me that what I made was horrible!” Draco exclaimed, looking extremely offended. 

“Well, I don’t mean to a bitch, but it really was!” Harry replied, earning a smack in the face from Draco. Harry laughed, though Draco didn’t find anything moderately funny about the situation, and simply blankly stared at Harry. 

“So, are we going to go to Hogwarts for an eighth year?” Harry asked, running a hand through his hair as he stared at Draco, waiting for an answer. Draco frowned, his silver eyes glistening with worry. “Draco, it’s okay. I’ll be fine as long as you’re there. So are we going to go?” 

“If you’re sure?” Draco asked, pulling Harry closed to him so that they were cuddling close to each other. Harry nodded. Draco took in a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling before smiling slightly.

“Well then, let’s go for an eighth year at Hogwarts, shall we?” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry that this took super long to come out, but I had the absolute worst block that lasted for 2 weeks straight. 
> 
> A longer chapter will be out next. 
> 
> If any of you are actually still here, thank you. And if any of you were actually waiting for a new chapter, I'm even sorrier, I just had zero inspiration for a while. 
> 
> But I'm back, and with more drarry stuff to write ;)


	25. uhh author's note

this isn't a chapter (sorry) 

I have many ideas left for this fan-fiction. The problem is, I don't have much time. But I don't know, if you really want me to finish this fanfic (which I feel I owe to Draco, Harry, myself and you), I will try my best. please comment below your opinion if you want to (which would be very much appreciated). 

If none of you are still here (which isn't surprising, you probably aren't), I might continue this story later on, when I have more time. 

thank you, 

malfoypolix 


	26. Chapter 25

“Stop playing with your food,” Harry scolded Draco who was staring down at his plate and swirling around the pasta with his fork. “Do you want me to feed you?” 

“What the fuck? No.” Draco snapped, still staring at his food. Then, he slowly looked up at Harry, who was staring at him, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. Draco let out a shaky breath. “Well… maybe…” Harry smiled slightly, standing up and sitting closer to Draco. 

“All you had to do was ask,” said Harry gently, picking up Draco’s fork and carefully putting it in his mouth. Draco rolled his eyes as he chewed on the pasta that Harry had just fed him. 

“We both know I have too much pride for that.” pointed out Draco, to which Harry nodded at, agreeing.

“Stop it! I’m not done chewing yet!” Draco whined when Harry put the fork to his lips. 

“I can’t just wait till you’re done chewing! You literally take forever!” 

“I can take as long as I want, thank you very much!” 

“Fuck you!” 

“You wish,” said Draco as he leaned forward and put the pasta into his mouth, winking at Harry, who felt himself heat up at the sight of it. Though Harry was red, and he felt himself heat up, it really did feel wonderful. 

Though the two really were comfortable around each other, Harry would still find himself blushing when Draco said something remotely flirty or suggestive, and he would find himself turning red and having to bury his face into Draco’s chest whenever Draco would compliment him. Harry’s heart still skipped a beat whenever Draco would turn to look at him, his silver eyes glistening with love. 

“How are you doing, love?” asked Draco softly, reaching over and stroking Harry’s hair gently, playing with the white strands in his hair. 

“I should be asking you that,” Harry murmured, standing up and sitting on Draco’s lap, nuzzling his face into his neck. “Last night-” 

“Is something that we don’t need to talk about,” Draco snapped at once, the tone in his voice turning cold. 

“Draco-”

“Stop it.” 

Draco quickly stood up and pushed Harry off of him, turning away from him. Harry quickly caught himself and stood up, biting his lip. He knew it was a subject that he should let go of; let him be, but Harry just couldn’t. 

“Draco, you were crying, and-” 

“Harry.”  Harry could sense the tone of Draco’s voice. It was serious, it was cold, it was a tone that implied that he was shutting himself off and that he wasn’t going to talk to Harry.

Harry slowly took a step towards Draco, taking his hand gently. Draco flinched and snatched his hand away, not looking at Harry. Then, he walked out of the room and didn’t look back. 

*******

“I’ll be going for about two hours.” 

The atmosphere was tense. Draco and Harry hadn’t talked since Draco had walked out of the room three days ago. Ever since then, Harry didn’t look in Draco’s direction. They slept on opposite sides of the bed. During the day, Harry would spend most of his time in the living room, and Draco spent most of his time in the bedroom. Whenever they would end up being in the same room, one of the two would quickly exist. 

“Hm.” was all that came out of Draco’s mouth. 

“It’s just lunch, but the Weasleys will probably want me to stay longer...” Harry trailed off into silence when he realized it was no point trying to speak to Draco. “When will you be back from Malfoy Manor?” 

“It’s just a meal for me, too. But perhaps my mother would want me to stay longer.” 

_ Ouch. _ It was the formal tone and language that threw Harry off. He thought maybe they were making some sort of progress, but it seemed to turn out that they weren’t at all.

Harry nodded slightly, glancing over at Draco, who wasn’t looking at him. Though it was his fault for trying to push Draco, Harry still felt that it was unfair that he was receiving the cold shoulder from someone who walked out of the room and didn’t talk to him for the next three days. Harry even felt that Draco was being somewhat hypocritical. 

Draco was constantly asking Harry how he was, wanting him to open up about his thoughts. But as soon as Harry would try to ask Draco what was wrong, he would completely shut himself off. 

“Will you be needing my wand?” Draco asked after several moments of pondering about whether he should ask or not. “I could Apparate you to the Weasleys’, and from there I can go home.” 

“That would be most appreciated, thank you. Is there any way I could repay you?” Harry mocked, wondering if he was pushing it too far. But he couldn’t stop the words slipping out of his mouth. Draco bit his lip, showing a clear sign of unappreciation. He grabbed a hold of Harry’s hand and handed him his wand.

Harry gulped awkwardly, quickly Apparating right outside of the Weasleys’ front door. Harry turned to Draco, pondering whether he should say bye, or maybe even hug Draco. 

Just as he turned to Draco to say something, Harry realized that he was long gone. 

*******

“What’s wrong, mate? You’ve been shaky all afternoon. Mum and Dad are worried that they did something,” Ron stated as he sat down beside Harry, who was sitting by the fireplace, staring at the bare chimney.

“I wish it was winter,” Harry said as he stared at the empty fireplace. “I could really go for snuggling into a blanket and having some hot cocoa.” 

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances as she sat down on the other side of Harry. 

“Did something happen, Harry? Between you and…” Hermione looked up at Ginny who was sitting nearby, “.. _.Ferret _ ?” 

Harry raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly who Hermione was talking about, and why she made up a code name, but why _ Ferret _ ? Then the memory of Mad-Eye Moody turning Draco into a ferret hit Harry, and suddenly he was snickering to himself.

Hermione sighed. “What happened?” She asked in a hushed voice. Ginny stared at the three. Just as Harry opened his mouth to speak, all three of them turned to look at Ginny who was staring at them intently.

She awkwardly stood up, getting the message quickly and leaving the room. 

“We… things are shaky between us…” Harry finally said, letting out a sigh. “Long story short, he stormed out of the room three days ago, and we haven’t talked properly since.”

“Why did he storm out?” Hermione asked, not caring about how nosy she sounded. Harry stared at her for a few seconds. 

“I was trying to talk to him about his break down the night before,” Harry admitted. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances once again, before taking in a deep breath. Hermione shook her head. 

“Harry, even  _ I _ know that trying to talk to Draco about something like this is a huge no-no. You should have given him a few days, at the least. At least then he wouldn’t have stormed out.”

“Hermione, don’t tell me what I  _ should’ve _ done, tell me what I should do now!” Harry snapped. Silence fell among the three. Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to snap like that.” 

“It’s alright…” Hermione was saying, but she stood up and left the room. Harry exhaled sharply. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not you,” Ron said, sensing his best friend’s misery. “She’s been like that all day. She’s worried about her own stuff.”

That made Harry feel even worse. He was constantly ranting to Hermione, always talking to her about his problems only. It never occurred to him that Hermione could be going through her own things too. 

Harry sighed, chewing on his lower lip. There was a gentle, dark feeling in his chest as he leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. He just wanted everything to just… stop. Even if it was only for a minute. It was a long minute that Harry would enjoy. 

********

Harry sat in Ron’s room, gazing out the window, tapping his fingers on the windowsill.

“Everything okay?” came a voice from the doorway. Harry slowly looked up and turned around to see who the voice belonged to - it was Ginny. She was smiling softly, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Ron and Hermione.”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine,” Harry said, turning back to face the window. “Yeah, it’s fine…” 

“Doesn’t sound fine, if you ask me,” said Ginny as she slowly approached Harry, biting her lip in concern. “Who’s Ferret?” Harry chewed on his bottom lip, deciding not to answer. Ginny frowned slightly, “I think I can help.” 

“With what?” 

“How to apologize,” Ginny said as if she was stating the obvious, “er… well, you need to apologize, you do know that, right?” Harry turned over to look at her, raising an eyebrow. 

“Do I?” 

“You suck at relationships,” Ginny replied with an eye roll, her blue eyes sparkling as excitement filled her, “I have the best ways to apologize; don’t worry.” 

Harry stared at her for a few seconds, his eyebrows still raised, as he nodded slowly, realizing he probably needed all the help he could get. “Alright, sure,” He gave in, exhaling deeply, “How do I apologize, then?” 

“Well,” Ginny said with a sigh, “Maybe give her flowers and a teddy bear.” 

Harry blinked at Ginny; hadn’t she just said that she overheard the conversation? Harry would have thought by now that Ginny would have realized who Ferret was - or at least that it was a male. Well, perhaps not, then. Harry snickered slightly, “Flowers and a teddy bear?"

“I mean, I would like it if you gave that to me if you needed to apologize - well, perhaps it’s more about the thought and who is giving it to me,” Ginny said, winking slyly, but Harry didn’t even notice. Flowers and a teddy bear? Harry could just imagine it. 

_ “Hey, Draco. I’m really sorry about the other day, you know. Here, a gift to make you feel better.” Harry hands the flowers and teddy bear to Draco.  _

_ “The fuck is this?” _

Harry could just imagine Draco throwing the flowers to the ground, stomping on them, picking them up and throwing them at Harry’s face. Harry was snickering to himself. Starting to feel slightly uncomfortable about the position he was standing in, Harry slowly stood upright and leaned against the wall right beside the window, still staring outside. 

Harry knew that however he did it, he had to find a way to apologize to Draco. 

********

An hour later, Hermione Apparated Harry back to Grimmauld Place, which was quite awkward, as they hadn’t talked properly since after Hermione had left the room. Harry awkwardly let go of Hermione’s hand and took a step forward. 

The atmosphere was strange; idle, icy. Empty. Harry couldn’t feel Draco’s presence - as creepy and crazy as it sounded, he really couldn’t. There was always a warm feeling whenever Draco was around - since they hadn’t been apart for most of the summer, Harry could notice it only now, while they were apart. 

“Hey, listen,” Harry said, slowly turning back to face Hermione, who was stood awkwardly as she had her arms crossed, frowning slightly. “I didn’t mean for… you know… and I-” 

“Harry, it’s okay,” Hermione said, biting her lip. The two stood in silence for a few seconds, staring at each other, before breaking into soft laughter. “Really. Don’t worry, Harry.” She said with a smile when she stopped laughing. 

“Well… alright. I need to check if Draco is here, he said he would be home by now…” Harry said. Hermione raised an eyebrow, sensing Harry’s concerned tone. 

“Want me to stay until you find him?” She asked, to which Harry nodded eagerly as he walked around the place, wondering if Draco was home, but just in the bedroom. He wasn’t. 

By the time Harry had finished searching, Hermione was seated on the sofa, reading a book that had been set down on the kitchen table. 

“He isn’t here,” Harry said in a slightly panicked tone, “Why isn’t he here?” He felt his chest tighten, his stomach queasy, as he ran a hand through his hair, confused. “Is he that mad at me that he just won’t come back?” 

“That couldn’t be,” Hermione replied in a calm tone, frowning, setting the book aside and quickly stand up, putting her wand to the side. “Draco wouldn’t do that - even if he was  _ that  _ mad at you, he wouldn’t just leave and not come back.” 

Harry raised an eyebrow; Hermione seemed like she knew Draco well, which was odd - they barely exchanged a few words in the past two years since Harry and Draco had started dating - perhaps she just could have guessed, or Hermione understood Draco better than Harry thought she would. 

“I… then something probably happened,” Harry’s voice rose in more panic as he frantically looked around, “What do I do? What if he was arrested by the Ministry or something? Draco had told me that he was off charges and didn’t need to be put on trial for being a Death Eater, but-” 

“You’re rambling,” Hermione stated with a sigh. “Tell you what, let’s stay till dark. If he doesn’t come by then, let’s just assume he spent the night at his home - his parents probably want him to, you know… We’ll go back to The Burrow if he doesn’t come home tonight, and we can come back tomorrow to check if he’s there.” Harry smiled slightly - Hermione was being rational; she was probably correct, anyways. Harry was probably just being dramatic.

Draco had not come that evening. Nor did he the next morning. Before Harry knew it, two weeks had gone by without a word from Draco. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is a bit rushed, sorry about that. 
> 
> I really want to thank you guys so, so much for your support. Looking at your comments really got me motivated and made me feel much better about continuing this story - I genuinely thought that no one liked this story. So, really, thank you. My writing is not great at all but it is really important to me (always has been), so seeing your support really helps me. 
> 
> Thank you, really. 
> 
> malfoypolix
> 
> p.s. enjoy a new chapter it's been like what 1000 years? weeeeeee


	27. Chapter 26

Draco slowly made his way to the table, uncomfortably sitting down. Narcissa smiled at her son before turning to her food. The atmosphere was icy - of course it was. It was always like this at Malfoy Manor.  Draco guessed that he just forgot how it felt, to be in such an icy atmosphere all the time. Living with Harry - someone who practically glowed with warmth all the time, who instantly warmed up Draco’s icy atmosphere. 

Draco missed Harry’s warmth. 

“So, Draco,” said Lucius, snapping Draco out of his thoughts. “You haven’t been staying at Malfoy Manor for a while.” Draco could already see this conversation going in a bad direction - it was probably a record; they had gone five minutes into the meal without starting an unpleasant conversation. Lucius raised an eyebrow, waiting for Draco’s reply.

Draco awkwardly cleared his throat, swallowing the food that he was chewing, “Er, yes. I’ve been staying somewhere else,” Draco stated, “I’m quite surprised you noticed that your son hasn’t been staying here.” He mumbled to himself sarcastically. Draco realized that he had said it a bit too loud. Lucius decided to ignore what Draco had said.

“Where have you been staying? What a disgrace, if I do say so myself.” Lucius said in a disgusted tone. “Have you been staying there by yourself?”

Draco felt his chest tighten. “No,” He replied honestly in a choked sort of voice, “I’ve been staying with someone.” Narcissa smiled slightly - but Draco didn’t notice. He was busy staring down at his food. 

“Who is it? They’ve clearly influenced you to just abandon your family - bet they don’t know anything about how to treat their parents.” 

“They don’t, but you can’t really blame them,” Draco muttered in response, biting his lip. Lucius looked furious. Draco continued to stare down at his plate, picked at his food, frowning. He shouldn’t have left Harry so suddenly, without saying anything at all. 

“You aren’t leaving Malfoy Manor, I hope you realize, Draco,” Lucius announced, a demeaning look fixed on his face. “You are not to leave Malfoy Manor unless I order you to do so.” 

Draco stared at his father in utter astonishment, dropping the fork that was in his hands, a loud clutter sound hitting everyone’s ears. “You can’t possibly be-” 

“I am,” Lucius said as he stood up from his seat, and left.

*******

Draco was sitting in the corner of his room, the brown streak in his hair glistening. He felt cold, so cold. He was freezing. It was mid-summer, and he was freezing. He finally gave in, walking into his closet and grabbing a sweater. Not just any sweater. The sweater that Harry had given Draco - the one that Molly Weasley had made for Harry. 

It had been two weeks since Draco was practically captured to stay at Malfoy Manor.

He was dead worried, of course. Draco couldn’t stop replaying the scene in his head - him storming out on Harry, all because he was worried. Draco regretted it - he regretted it deeply. He frowned, running a hand through his hair, sitting back down in the corner.

Someone lightly knocked on the door to Draco’s room. “Draco? I need to talk to you,” said Narcissa as she slowly entered. She was holding a book. She carefully shut the door behind her, frowning at Draco. “Why are you sitting on the floor when you’ve got a perfectly good chair over there?” She asked, gesturing to the chair beside him.

“I’m protesting,” said Draco in a blank tone, playing with the sleeves of his sweater. He realized that Narcissa was probably going to question why Draco was wearing a sweater that the letter ‘H’ on it, but she glanced at it and said nothing. 

“Listen,” She said after rolling her eyes, “Severus left this for you. He requested that if he doesn’t get to give the book to you, I should.” She handed the book to Draco, who was frowning. He tried opening the book, but it felt as if it was glued shut. It wouldn’t open. 

“Why did Snape want to give me a book that’s glued shut?” Draco asked stupidly, using his index finger to run his hand over the book cover. The book had a hardcover, and it was just plain black, and in gold, it said, ‘legends’. 

Narcissa sighed at Draco’s stupid question, “It isn’t actually glued shut, Draco,” She said, sitting down on Draco’s bed as she watched him eye the book, “He said it would open when you need it to.” 

“Strange,” Draco said with a shrug, slowly standing up and setting the book down on his desk table. “Is that all? I need to get back to my deep pondering of why the hell I decided to come here for lunch two weeks ago.” Draco massaged his temples, “He’s probably so worried, stupid git…” Draco mumbled to himself, biting his lip. 

 

Narcissa stared at her son for a few seconds, “You didn’t send them a letter yet?” She asked outrageously, blinking in surprise. “Send them a letter. Now.” She practically ordered, “Honestly, Draco, I thought you knew better than to just leave your partner in the dark like that!”

“ _ Partner _ ?” Draco repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Mother, are you implying that you think I’m gay?”

Narcissa quickly stood up, steering the conversation away from what Draco had just asked, “Send them a letter now! I can’t believe you haven’t before.” 

“I tried,” Draco muttered as he slowly got out a piece of paper, a quill and ink, “but father stopped me before I could even start writing the letter.” 

Narcissa frowned at her son, nodding slightly, leaving Draco’s room, smiling slightly to herself. 

*******

_ Hey,  _

_ Sending this before father finds out. _

_ So basically my father is holding me captive (okay not really, he’s just forcing me to stay at Malfoy Manor till the summer ends, seriously don’t worry about me, I’m fine.)  _

_ I’ll see you at Hogwarts, though _

_ D.M.  _

Harry stared down at the letter, frowning. The letter looked really rushed, the  handwriting was more a scribble than actual words. 

“Well, at least he’s okay,” Hermione said, sitting down beside Harry on the couch as she popped some popcorn into her mouth. Harry took a handful of popcorn from the bowl that Hermione had in her hands, stuffing his face with it as Ron carefully took the letter from Draco out of Harry’s hands to examine it, raising an eyebrow. 

“What if he’s actually being captured and was forced to send that letter, resulting in me thinking he’s fine but he actually isn’t, and he’s going to die?” Harry said dramatically, frowning as he stared at Hermione. “What happens then?” 

Hermione exchanged glances with Ron, before sighing, turning back to Harry. “Do you feel any sort of… pain?” She asked slowly. 

“No?” Harry answered, confused. “Why?” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Hermione said, sighing. “You have nothing to worry about. You’ll see him at Hogwarts in a few weeks. Just a few weeks, okay?” 

“It feels like years to me,” Harry mumbled, hugging his knees, fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater - well, Draco’s. “We were… we were just apart for so long, and we fought, and we have to be apart again, and it’s all just-” 

“Don’t worry about it, Harry. Really.” Hermione turned to look at Ron, shooting him a look as if to say ‘say something’. Ron slowly sat up, awkwardly clearing his throat and patting Harry gently. 

“Yeah, ‘Mione’s right, mate. Don’t worry. I know this isn’t what you want to hear right now, but you need to let what’s happening pass. I know it feels like an eternity, but it’ll be over soon. Don’t worry.”

Surprisingly, Ron actually managed to make Harry feel better. 

********

“Draco?” 

No response. 

“Draco, are you in there?” Narcissa knocked this time, in case he didn’t hear her. “I’m coming in.” 

Draco was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “What?” He asked in a whiny tone, a tone that suggested he was extremely tired. Not necessarily physically, but mentally. 

“Draco… you shouldn’t have lashed out like that to your father.” Narcissa said with a sigh. “He’s not too happy. I know you’re upset that you can’t leave this place, but…”

“He deserves it,” Draco muttered. Narcissa decided to say nothing to that - the two of them knew that she secretly agreed with him. Draco let out a sigh, looking over at his mother before turning back to stare at the ceiling. 

“Just a week left, Draco. And you’ll be out of here,” Narcissa said softly, frowning. 

“...yeah, I know. I’m sorry that you can’t get out of here,” Draco mumbled, slowly sitting up, frowning at his mother. Narcissa looked up, she seemed to be surprised that Draco knew how she wasn’t happy here. 

“Me too,” She whispered, her eyes tearing up. She blinked back tears. “I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me, Draco.” Draco gave her a look as if to say, “are you sure?”, and Narcissa simply nodded, slowly standing up and leaving Draco’s room silently.

********

“Got everything, mate? I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something,” said Ron as he shut his trunk, looking over at Harry, who was staring into his trunk, clutching his new wand tightly. “You okay, mate?” asked Ron when he noticed Harry looking lost. 

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just a bit nervous about going back to Hogwarts.” Harry put away his trembling hand in his pockets so no one would notice, biting his lip, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. 

“And nervous about seeing Draco again?” Ron asked, walking over and shutting Harry’s trunk for him, latching it properly and making it sit upright, patting Harry on the shoulder sympathetically. 

“And nervous about seeing Draco again,” Harry nodded, in agreement, adjusting his glasses and putting his wand to the side. “I’m surprised by how early we are this year - we actually have time to get to Platform 9 and 3/4.” 

“Alright, alright! Let’s get going, I don’t want to lose any time. No time to laze about - we are going to get on that train early, and we will sit inside and laze about in there! Am I clear?” Hermione ordered, glaring at Ron and Harry. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry and Ron said in unison, both of their faces falling, snickering slightly when Hermione practically marched out of the room to get her things. 

Harry had missed this - he missed being a kid. Well, not a kid, but more so being more clueless to the outside world - no nightmares, breakdowns, having to hide trembling hands and wobbly legs. 

Harry missed being himself. 

Meanwhile, Draco stood at the foot of his bed, looking around, in case he had forgotten anything. He had thoroughly packed everything the night before. He had to distract himself. He didn’t know what to do when he would finally see Harry. He didn’t know what to say, how to feel. 

“Have you got everything Draco?” Narcissa asked, smiling at her son as she walked in, biting her lip. “I don’t want you forgetting anything - if you do, just owl me, though.” She gently placed her hand on Draco’s shoulder, “Have a great year, alright? Finish your education. Do you have any ideas of what you want to do after Hogwarts?” 

“None at all,” Draco replied honestly, staring down at his trembling hand, wondering why it was trembling so much - he quickly hid it away in his pockets. Narcissa watched as the brown streak in Draco’s hair glistened - shined, even. 

“Need me to come to drop you off?” asked Narcissa, deciding not to say anything about it. “After all, I am hoping to run into Harry-”

“Wh-wha-what? Why would you want to see Harry? Uh, I mean Potter. Why would you want to see Potter? I mean, I know he’s like, this huge great person for defeating the Dark Lord, but seriously, he’s not even-” 

“Draco.” Narcissa cut him off, giving him a look as if to say ‘don’t even try’. 

“...that great,” Draco finished his sentence, his eyes widened as he stared at his mother in utter shock, “You know. How do you know?” He finally said in defeat, chewing on his lip. “I thought I hid it really well.” 

“Oh, yes, you did. I had the hardest time trying to figure it out - but I knew once I noticed you were writing letters, all I had to do was read to who it was - so I did. Didn’t come much of a shock to me, I always presumed you had a thing for him. Every summer, it was always ‘Potter this, Potter that, Potter did this, oh did you know Potter did this’, I thought I’d never hear the end of it. But when you came back after sixth year, I did get quite suspicious.” Narcissa explained, “So, I dug a little deeper and… I just knew after a while.”

Draco stared at his mother for a few seconds, frowning, before nodding slightly. “I… I see. I didn’t know that you knew this whole time… Thank you for not saying anything to father.”

“It is not my place, besides - I think we both know how he’d respond to that.” 

Draco nodded, frowning as he could just imagine the absolute outrage his father would be in if he found out that his son was in love with Harry Potter. Draco now turned to his mother. He wasn’t big on hugs (when it came to practically anyone other than Harry), but he hugged his mother anyways, he felt like she might’ve needed it. 

“I might come for the Christmas Holidays. But if not, I’ll see you next year, mother.” Draco took a hold of his trunk. 

“Maybe I’ll see you in the Christmas break, but if not, I’ll see you next year, Molly, Arthur,” Harry said, smiling at the two, taking a hold of his trunk. 

“See you next year, Draco,” Narcissa said, a slight smile fixed on her face. 

“See you next year, kids,” Molly said sweetly, a sad smile on her face. 

Draco left his room and walked out of Malfoy Manor to Apparate to Platform 9 and 3/4. 

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione walked out of The Burrow to Apparate to Platform 9 and 3/4. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I hate how the order is messed up now; it says chapter 26 is chapter 27 oooooof wow this is great. Hopefully, it doesn't bother you guys
> 
> also, I don't know why I did such sort of parallels at the end over there, I don't know how to feel about it tbh. 
> 
> It's late for me as I upload this so I'm sorry if there are tons of mistakes, this is not proofread lmao


	28. Chapter 27

As Harry looked around Platform 9 and 3/4, memories of the previous years flooded his brain. He felt his heart beating quickly as he looked around, in hopes to find a certain white-haired boy.

“Harry? Harry, come _on_ , stop daydreaming,” said Hermione, rolling her eyes when she noticed Harry wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying. The loud chatter was deafening, but Harry didn’t mind it. He smiled slightly to himself when he stared at what seemed like a shaken up first year kid, nervous to leave her parents.

“I heard Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts, Mum,” Harry heard the girl say, “Is it true?”

Harry didn’t know what to think of that. Was it a good thing that she was asking? Or was she asking because she was scared of him? Harry continued to stare as he watched the girl’s parents looking over at him, and saying something inaudible. The girl had turned and she was now staring at Harry.

Now that Harry thought about it… he looked around and noticed everyone in Platform 9 and 3/4 staring at him.

“It’s Harry Potter! The Boy Who Lived!” Harry heard someone shout. If everyone wasn’t staring at Harry before, now they surely were. Everything and everyone was silent for a few seconds. Though it was only a few seconds, it certainly didn’t feel like it for Harry.

Suddenly, either everyone was getting back to their goodbyes, or walking up to Harry. They were shaking his hand, some even hugging him, all talking at once. Harry noticed that even Hermione and Ron were getting bombarded; though the only difference was that Ron actually seemed to be enjoyed the attention, while Hermione and Harry simply awkwardly stood there.

*******

“ _Finally_ ,” Hermione said with a huge sigh as she flopped herself down on the seat of the train compartment, “I thought we’d never be able to escape.” Harry nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything.

“Bloody hell, I didn’t know that we were so popular!” Ron said - rather excitedly - as he sat down beside Hermione, practically grinning from ear to ear. Harry was sitting opposite them, awkward playing with his hands when Ron and Hermione started holding hands and starting to converse with each other quietly.

Harry wondered where Draco was. He thought back to the previous years - walking to each others’ compartments, exchanging insults… Harry wanted to see him again. He stared out the window as the train finally started. They were on their way to Hogwarts.

Harry could feel something was wrong; right as the Hogwarts train started up. He frowned, biting his lip, staring out the window as he leaned his head on the glass.

What was wrong?

Draco felt his chest tighten as he shut the door behind him. His father had seen him. There was no way Draco would be able to leave without Lucius stopping him now.

“Leaving without saying goodbye?”

Draco was practically just standing there, waiting for his father to come outside. Draco let out a shaky breath, slowly turning around to face his father. “Goodbye,” said the blond in a more mocking tone than a genuine tone, “see you next year.”

“You know, Draco, I really don’t think you should be going to Hogwarts for your eighth year,” said Lucius, taking a small step towards his son. Draco slowly took a step back, shaking his head.

“Mother said it’s best if I go,” Draco said in a low voice, staring down at his feet - facing his father was too much for him.

“I don’t think it’s best if you go.”

Draco clenched his fists, chewing on his bottom lip - all he wanted was to see Harry. But it seemed like that was too much to as for. “Really, now?” said Draco in a firm annoyed tone, “I think it’s best if I listen to my mother.”

“Well, that clearly wasn’t the best thing to say,” Draco muttered to himself after he was thrown into his room and locked in there without his wand or luggage. At this point, he wasn’t even surprised; but he was wondering why his father was so firm about keeping Draco at the Manor - what was he planning? Draco was sure that it couldn’t be anything good.

Draco put a hand to his left cheek, where his father had hit him. He bit his lip. He was used to his father doing that, hitting him, locking him in his room - but this time it just felt worse than it usually did. Perhaps because Draco knew that if he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t see Harry. Not for a long while, at least.

“Hey, Harry, Hermione, haven’t seen you since…” Pansy trailed off into silence but quickly changed the subject, “Anyways, I need to talk to you guys.” Pansy quickly entered the train compartment and sat down beside Harry. Hermione politely greeted Pansy and waited for Harry to greet Pansy too. But he didn’t. He seemed to be staring into space. Ron awkwardly waved at Pansy.

Harry could feel it; something was so terribly wrong. It was making his insides lurch. It was making his chest tighten, and his heart sink every time he imagined a worse and worse scenario about what’s happened to Draco. His left cheek was hurting, for some odd reason.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked when she noticed him putting a hand to his left cheek, frowning deeply. Hermione raised an eyebrow when he didn’t respond, exchanging glances with Ron.

“Harry?” Ron said in an attempt to get his attention.

Harry’s eyes flickered over to Hermione and Ron as he jumped slightly, snapping out of his thoughts. “Huh?” was all he managed to get out, his green eyes still seeming quite far away.

“Are you okay?” Hermione asked, now frowning too. “You seem upset. Is it because of Draco? You can go to him, you know. He’s probably sitting where Pansy was. Pansy, which compartment are you sitting in?”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Pansy started to say.

“Yeah, just a sec, Pansy. Harry, seriously, just go to see Draco.”

“He isn’t here,” Harry finally spoke up, shaking his head.

“No, Harry, you can’t see Draco because he isn’t-” Pansy paused when she realized what Harry had said. “I didn’t see you looking around the train. How’d you know?” Pansy and Hermione quickly looked over at each other, exchanging glances.

Harry paused for a second, confused too. He never thought about _how_ and _why_ he knew. He was more worried about what was happening. “I just knew,” was all he said. “What’s wrong? Is he okay? Have you heard from him?”

Pansy shook her head. “No,” She replied, frowning. “We exchanged a few letters. He said he would be here today. I don’t know, though. Maybe something happened with his father.”

Hermione and Harry exchanged glances before Harry sighed. “So, what does that mean?”

“He had mentioned in the letters that his father wasn’t particularly happy with Draco. Maybe he’s not letting Draco come to Hogwarts.” Pansy said carefully, looking over to Hermione before turning to Harry.

“What? So you mean that he just won’t be able to come this year?” Harry said, frowning.

Pansy just nodded.

********

Draco would be able to quickly sneak out and get his wand and luggage and leave without his father spotting him - just getting out of his room was a problem, as Lucius has locked it before he left.

Draco had been on his bed, staring up at the ceiling - all he could think of was how Harry. He felt terrible. He had promised Harry he would be at Hogwarts - Draco just wanted to see Harry’s face. He felt as if he was going mad. Draco slowly stood up and walked to the door, hesitantly trying to turn the doorknob - he had been trying every hour since he had been thrown into the room.

Draco glanced over to his watch. It was around six - Hogwarts Express had probably reached by now. How would Draco even get there? The only option would be to Apparate in Hogsmeade and from there, he would walk to Hogwarts.

Draco stared at his door for a few seconds. It seemed like he had no choice - Lucius had taken this to far. Draco took large steps back, before charging against his door, hitting his body against it with full force.

Harry jolted to the side on the carriage, gasping loudly. Everyone who was on the carriage - Hermione, Ron, and Pansy - raised an eyebrow at Harry who awkwardly cleared his throat.

They got off the carriages and were led inside the castle.

It felt strange to be back. Everything looked as it did before the war - before Voldemort had destroyed it.

“Alright there, Harry?” Ron asked after they had reached the Eighth Year Common Room. He had noticed that Harry still seemed to be far away. No one could blame him. Harry simply nodded slightly in response, not saying anything. 

Since the number of students for the Eighth Year was actually quite small, it was two people per room. Pansy and Hermione decided to share a room - they had surprisingly become friends.

As a given, Ron and Harry took a room, one at the very end of the hallway. The Eighth Year rooms weren’t split into different sections for genders - just the girls’ dorms on the right and the boys’ on the left, right across each other in a hallway down the Eighth Year Common Room.

“Coming for the feast, Harry?” asked Ron - the Eighth years were allowed to go to their rooms and set up their rooms before the feast - as he walked over to the door, looking back at his best friend.

“Ye...yeah, no I won’t. I’m just not up for it today…” Harry said, “Sorry, Ron. You go on ahead.” Ron nodded, reluctantly shutting the door behind him and catching up with Hermione, Pansy, Neville, Luna, Blaise, Dean and Seamus who were all about to leave for the feast.

“He’s not coming?” Hermione asked Ron as they left. Ron simply shook his head as he frowned.

Harry sat on the floor of his room. He literally felt that there was no point of staying at Hogwarts if he didn’t get to see Draco - one of the main reasons he wanted to come back to Hogwarts was because of him. Harry ran a hand through his hair, slowly standing up.

He stared at the white streak in his hair before slowly turning to his bed, fixing it up before he could lie down on it.

And suddenly, Harry could feel it.

There was a warmth that hit his chest suddenly. He was confused - it felt exactly like…

There were loud footsteps down the hallway, and Harry found himself turning and staring at the door, almost waiting for whoever it was to open the door. Harry was curious as to who it was.

Deep down, Harry knew. Harry knew who exactly who it was.

The door burst open.

“Harry,” Draco said breathlessly, panting heavily. Draco's silver eyes were glistening with tears, the brown streak in his hair shining, pushing his trunk to the side and practically running to Harry, wrapping his arms around him.

Warmth. That’s what it felt like. Pure warmth.

_That’s what Harry’s presence feels like. Warmth._

_That’s what Draco’s presence feels like. Warmth._

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Draco started, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry I just left you like that. I’m sorry that we fought.”

“I’m sorry I let you stay there,” Harry answered, pulling Draco close to him, “I’m sorry I left you to stay there. I’m sorry I pushed you to tell me something you didn’t want to tell me.”

“Fuck off,” Draco said through tears, “Just let me apologize.”

“I don’t need you to apologize, love,” Harry whispered softly. He sunk to the floor, and so did Draco. Draco slowly and hesitantly crawled onto Harry’s lap, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder.

Draco didn’t need to say a word, he didn’t need to explain. Harry didn’t need to say words of comfort, he didn’t need to ask. All they needed in that moment, was one thing.

To feel each other’s warmth.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but as I wrote it, it felt right to stop with Draco and Harry in each other's arms <3
> 
> hope you like this
> 
> I'll try to make the next chapter longer :)


	29. Chapter 29

Harry woke up to the sunlight hitting his face - he had clearly remembered closing the curtains the night before, but Ron must’ve opened them. Harry looked around the blurry room, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table, getting a hold of his glasses and slowly putting them on.

Harry slowly sat up and turned to face the window, slowly standing up.

“Morning, Scarface,” said Draco in an amused tone, “You look stunning today.” He was standing at the door. Harry jumped, slowly turning around to face Draco, rolling his eyes. He wiped the drool off of his face and fixed his hair that was sticking up in different directions.

“Yeah, thanks,” Harry said with another eye roll, but stared when he took notice of Draco - his silver eyes were glistening, his hair looked silky as always (Draco finally stopped gelling his hair up), sharp cheekbones, soft looking lips and clothes that complimented his body perfectly. “Wow,” Harry said before he could stop himself.

“What?” Draco asked obliviously, “is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me like that?” Harry chuckled slightly.

“No, no… nothing like that…” Harry muttered, chuckling slightly, unable to take his eyes off of Draco - no, Harry didn’t _want_ to take his eyes off of Draco, who awkwardly stood there, wondering why Harry was looking at him like that.

“Then what?”

“Just… you look great,” Harry managed to say. Draco blinked before biting his lip, his pale cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Harry’s cheek went slightly pink too.

Despite all they had been through, they were still just awkward gays in love with each other. Green eyes stared into silver ones.

“Uh, yeah, so I’m going to go get ready,” Harry said after awkwardly clearing his throat, having to practically tear his gaze off of Draco, scratching the back of his neck.

“We have twenty minutes till breakfast,” Draco said with an eye roll, “why do you always wake up so late?”

“Why do you always wake up so early?” Harry shot back, and Draco just rolled his eyes again, sitting down at the bed. “You don’t have to wait for me. I might take too long.”

“No no, I’m waiting for you. You stupid git,” said Draco, but he was grinning at Harry, his silver eyes glistening as he stared at him, who rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom.

*******

“Hey, Draco.”

“Draco.”

“Draco.”

“Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.”

“Draco Lucius Malfoy?”

“For the love of God, what?” Draco finally responded, looking up from his book, an annoyed expression on his face as he looked over to Harry, who was pouting as he stared at Draco, his arms folded. “What?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re ignoring me,” Harry complained, leaning forward and resting his head on Draco’s arm, still pouting. “I’m bored.”

“Harry, we’re supposed to be _studying_. We’re in the damn library. Now, let if you’re not going to study, let me read, at least,” Draco said, pulling Harry’s chair closer to him and adjusting his head so that the other wasn’t uncomfortable leaning against him.

“Draco, it’s one in the morning. Don’t you think we’ve studied enough for today?” Harry asked, looking up at Draco, who looked aggravated that Harry was speaking again.

“Harry, we’ve been in the library for five minutes.”

“And as much as those five minutes of studying were quite great, I think we should take a break,” Harry said, grabbing the book out of Draco’s hands and shutting it, putting it away on the table. “Why don’t we do something more interesting?”

“Such as?” Draco asked, an eyebrow raised as Harry slowly sat down on his lap, facing him. Harry’s green eyes sparkled with an emotion that Draco couldn’t identify - but he sure as hell could feel it. “You’re seriously-”

“You know that you talk way too much, right?” Harry asked, pressing his forehead against Draco’s, not breaking eye contact. “Especially when you should be silent. You know, let our eyes do the talking. I actually didn’t think I’d have to _tell_ you to shut-”

“Shut up,” Draco whispered, swiftly placing his lips on Harry’s, kissing him roughly and with passion. Of course, Harry kissed him right back, his tongue dancing in the other’s mouth, shutting his eyes and wrapping his arms around the blond’s neck.

After the two pulled apart, Draco stared at Harry for a few seconds, “So the reason you decided to meet up in the late hours of the night in the library was to make out with me?”

Harry smiled at Draco sheepishly, shrugging slightly, “Maybe,” He whispered, placing his head on Draco’s shoulder, “It’s only October. We have loads of time until the exams.” He murmured, shutting his eyes.

“Yeah, you’ll be saying that until it’s one day before exams and you’re cramming everything in your brain,” Draco replied with an eye roll, lifting his arm and starting to stroke Harry’s hair gently.

“You wouldn’t let me do that; you’d force me to study until it’s drilled into my brain,” Harry replied in a soft tone, his eyes still shut, a smile twitching at his lips when he felt Draco stroking his hair.

“I can’t have you failing the year now, can I?” Draco responded. “Don’t tell me you’re falling asleep. Honestly, if you were so tired, why did you even want to meet up?” Draco asked, continuing to stroke his hair, biting his lip.

“I wanted to see you,” Harry mumbled, “I never get to see you anymore.”

“You saw me all day, Harry. We literally have the same timetable-”

“It’s not the same,” Harry said, slowly opening his eyes and looking up at Draco, “We have to be enemies in classes and everywhere else…” Draco sighed but didn’t say anything - because he knew Harry was right.

“Sleep,” Draco finally said, gently pushing Harry’s head to his shoulder, starting to stroke his hair again, using his other arm to hold him.

Harry smiled slightly as he looked up at Draco, “You won’t leave me here while I’m asleep?”

“Never,” Draco whispered as Harry slowly shut his eyes, almost instantly falling asleep - Draco’s warmth, his scent, and the way he held him, it was perfect for Harry. It was comfortable.

It felt like home.

After a while of studying and Harry asleep on him, Draco slowly packed his things and carried Harry down to his dorm before slipping into his own.

********

“Potter!”

“Malfoy!”

“They do realize doing this every time they meet in the hallways is unnecessary, right?” Ron asked Hermione and Pansy who just nodded in agreement, all three of them staring at Harry and Draco who were staring each other down in the middle of the hallway.

“What now, Malfoy? Got another bet with your father going on that you need to tell me about?” Harry said, his green eyes sparkling as he stared at Draco. “Oh, and your hair looks awful today!”

“Shut up, Potter! As if yours looks any better!”

“They’ve really cut down on the insults, haven’t they?” Hermione pointed out as she raised an eyebrow at the two males refusing to tear their eyes off of each other. Pansy nodded in agreement.

“I’m just surprised no one’s noticed,” She replied, frowning slightly. “They went from death threats to insulting each other’s hair because they have nothing else to insult the other with. Doesn’t get any gayer than that.”

“I think it’s cute,” said a dreamy voice from behind them. Luna Lovegood was smiling at Harry and Draco who seemed to still be insulting each other’s hair. “Besides, you don't need to worry. No one even pays attention to what they have to say to each other anymore. If they do, I think there’d be a problem. I mean, look at them.”

“I don’t think they’re even trying to look like enemies anymore,” Ron replied, frowning as he stared at Draco and Harry, who had both stopped insulting each other and were just staring into each other’s eyes; both looking like they’ve never seen something more beautiful before.

Pansy cleared her throat loudly, “Hey, Potters, maybe try not to be gay in the middle of the hallway?”

“ _Gay?_ ” Harry echoed.

“ _Potters?_ ” Draco echoed, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, no way I’m taking his last name-”

“For the last time, do you think _Harry Malfoy_ sounds any better?” Harry cut him off with an eye roll.

“You think _Draco Potter_ is a good idea?” Draco asked outrageously.

“Well, I’ve got to say, yes it _is_ a good idea!”

“Oh, shut up! This is coming from the guy that thought Oreos dipped in orange juice was a good idea!”

“Wow, okay, that was _one_ time! And it didn’t even taste so bad!”

“Here they go again…” Hermione stated with an eye roll.

“I’m just glad everyone else is in class and they’re not here to see this,” Pansy said as she facepalmed. Ron and Luna exchanged glances, but the four were glad to see them together - bickering, like always, but still - it made them happy to see that they were happy.

“Hey,” Draco greeted as he entered the room, “I had a feeling you’d be here… are you okay?”

Harry sat on the bed of the Room of Requirement, quickly wiping away the tears on his face and turning to Draco, “How’d you know I’d be here?” He asked in a soft tone, biting his lip, sniffling slightly.  
“Well this _has_ been our safe place recently,” Draco pointed out, which was true. Draco and Harry had decided to use the Room of Requirement as a place to hang out without being spotted or disturbed. Draco slowly shut the door behind him and

walked towards Harry, careful to give space. “...And I just felt really off. I knew something was up,” Draco explained as he wiped tears off of his face too. He slowly sat on the large, large bed, slowly approaching Harry, wrapping his arms around him.

“N-no, it’s just… today’s…” Harry chewed on his bottom lip - he felt stupid for feeling this way. But he had a right to, didn’t he? They were his parents, after all. He had a right to feel sad over their death. “Today’s… today’s my parent’s-”

“I know, Harry,” Draco tried to say reassuringly - but he felt like he gave off the wrong emotion.

“I’m sorry for calling you a ‘stupid rich daddy’s little boy’ earlier this morning…”

“I know, Harry.”

“I’m also sorry for blocking you out instead of telling you that I’m just missing my parents…”

“I know, Harry.”

********

December was rapidly approaching - the first three months of Hogwarts had been fun. Sneaking around, pretending to be enemies, studying together, making out in broom closets. It was like sixth year all over again, minus the secrets.

“Harry, we have class in five minutes,” Draco whispered as Harry kissed his neck, unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt. “Harry…”

“Shh, will you? I’m trying to give you a hickey,” Harry mumbled as he bit at Draco’s neck, smiling when he heard Draco trying to hold back a soft moan but failing. Harry looked up and jumped onto Draco, wrapping his legs around his waist, smashing his lips against the other's.

It was a kiss with many, many emotions; the main one being lust, this time. They hadn’t met up to study, hang out or anything for the past week. The two were practically thirsty for each other.

When their heated make-out session was over, Draco fixed his shirt and rolled his eyes, muttering something about Harry not giving him a proper hickey as he opened the door, looking around before quickly slipping out, and Harry exiting a few moments later as if nothing had happened.

Every time Draco and Harry locked eyes, the streaks in their hair would glisten. Neither of them ever noticed, and neither did they care about it. The two were just glad to be able to be together again.

“I actually need to finish this essay, fuck,” Harry said, quickly getting out his quill and ink, starting to write as fast as he could, the stress in his eyes clear as day. Draco snickered beside him. “Oh, shut the fuck up, Draco,” Harry muttered as he continued writing.

“I told you to do it a week ago when Professor had assigned it to us,” Draco sang, “This is what you get for not listening to your wonderful boyfriend’s advice,” Draco watched as Harry gave him a blank stare before going back to writing frantically. Draco started to pout.

“I was really looking forward to just making out this study session,” He muttered, “but you procrastinating git…”

“That’s me,” Harry said with a shrug, adjusting his glasses as he slowed down his writing, looking over at Draco. “You never want to just make out. Are you tired? Did something happen? Did someone insult you? Did someone-”

“Stop worrying,” Draco cut him off with an eye roll, though he was smiling (of course he loved how Harry was worrying about him), “I’m fine. Just tired today. Of course, you pick today to procrastinate and work frantically, so now I can’t relax either.”

“Sleep,” Harry said. He stopped writing and set his quill down, adjusting himself before patting his empty lap. “You need it.” Draco raised an eyebrow, but crawled onto Harry’s lap, resting his head on his left shoulder. Harry used his left arm to hold Draco, and his other to start writing again.

“You won’t leave me here while I’m asleep?” Draco asked softly, slowly shutting his eyes, already knowing the answer as he relaxed himself, getting comfortable.

“Never.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what the hell even is this chapter lmao
> 
> sorry if it's a mess idk i just wanted some cute drarry oof
> 
> also thank you for 200 kudos! also (i write this on a doc before uploading it on here) this fanfic reached 200 pages lmao, so happy 200 <3


	30. Chapter 29

“Good morning,” said Draco as he reached over and ruffled Harry’s hair. “Finally, you’re awake. I didn’t want to leave without you.”

Harry sleepily sat up, rubbing his eyes as he felt around the large bed for his glasses. “Morning,” He muttered. “Where the fuck are my glasses? I can’t even see my own hands without them-”

Draco leaned forward, gently and carefully slipping them on to Harry’s face. “Better?” He asked, sharing a quick kiss on the lips with Harry, before leaning back and grinning.

“Much better,” Harry replied, grinning right back. “I can see your beautiful face now.” Draco scoffed but didn’t say anything, secretly enjoying the compliment. He shut his book and stretched his arms before slowly getting out of the bed.

“Shall we go back to our dorms?” Draco asked, yawning slightly. “It’s still pretty early, but we should probably use your Invisibility Cloak. I’m not in the mood to get swarmed by people with questions about our relationship.”

“Are you ever in the mood to get swarmed by people with questions about our relationship?”

“Fair point.”

Draco picked up the Invisibility Cloak which was on the couch, slowly opening the door, looking over at Harry, rolling his eyes when he noticed him struggling to put on his shoes.

“You know, technically, only one of has to be under the Invisibility Cloak,” Harry pointed out, folding his arms. Draco shook his head after realizing what Harry meant.

“Oh, come on. It has to be you. I mean, you have more experience with the Cloak than me!” Draco pointed out, shutting the door so that no one would see them. “I don’t really have much experience!”

“Bullshit! You used it pretty much all throughout sixth year. Don’t try bullshitting me!” Harry said, scoffing at Draco’s lame excuse. “You know very well how to use it!”

“Not as well as you!”

“Well, of course, but shut up! I spent most of sixth year being the one under the cloak!” Harry protested, and Draco rolled his eyes at him.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, we’re wasting time! Fine, I’ll do it! Fucking pain in the ass!” Draco muttered, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over him.

“That’s not the only way I can cause pain in your- _ow!_ ”

“Don’t you fucking even try to finish that sentence, git.”

Harry laughed, and Draco found himself trying not to smile at the way Harry’s face lit up as he laughed… then Draco remembered that he was under the cloak, so his mouth widened into a grin as they exited the Room of Requirement, on their way to the Eighth Year Common Room.

“Morning, lovebirds,” Pansy greeted as Harry entered. Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Pansy were all staring at Harry, then at Draco after he pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of him.

“Good morning,” The two muttered, smiling sheepishly, sitting down on the couch beside Hermione. Luna and Pansy were seated on the floor and Ron was sitting on a beanbag.

“So, what were you guys up to?” Pansy asked with a wink, breaking the silence. Hermione and Ron facepalmed.

“Pansy, shut up! We were just sleeping.” Draco said, rolling his eyes.

“...together,” Pansy added, winking again. Harry felt himself go red and Draco facepalmed, rolling his eyes. “I just hope you’ve been using prote-”

“Oh Merlin, fuck _off_!” Draco snapped. “If your nosy arses must know, we have not… done anything yet.”

“That hickey on your neck says otherwise,” Pansy sang. Draco quickly put a hand to his neck - of course, his pajamas didn’t hide his neck, as well as his shirts, did. Harry put a hand to his neck as well, feeling so awkward that he was smiling.

Hermione turned to look at the two who were desperately trying to hide their hickeys, quickly standing up and walking over to Ron, sitting down on his lap.

“I didn’t know you two were so intimate-”

“Luna, not you too!” Harry groaned. His face was flushed as he lifted his legs, wailing slightly in embarrassment, leaning on Draco.

“Bloody hell, this conversation makes me want to bury myself alive,” Ron mumbled, rolling his eyes, looking away from Draco and Harry.

“You and me both,” Draco muttered, “I hate you, Pansy.”

“You love me, really,” Pansy said as she stuck her tongue out at Draco, who simply scoffed. “Oh please, if it weren’t for me, you and Harry probably wouldn’t have even gotten together!”

“Ah, yes, Pansy, you assuming I was gay for Harry Potter right since the beginning and thinking we were dating even when we weren’t really helped me.”

“Oh, shut up, Draco.”

*********

“Hey, Draco, you never told me. Why weren’t you on the train to Hogwarts in the first place?”

Draco looked up from his book, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you never asked.” Draco replied, shrugging as he set the book down on the table in front of them, frowning slightly at Harry.

“I didn’t want to start another fight,” Harry muttered, setting down his quill on the table, pausing writing his essay. “So, why weren’t you on the train?”

Draco bit his lip. “My father didn’t think it was the best idea for me to go to come back to Hogwarts, so before I could leave, he locked me in my room with no way to leave.” Draco said after a few moments of silence.

“Uh, wow,” Harry said, blinking in confusion, “I didn’t realize… that your father was… like that.” Harry’s fists clenched under the table, and he looked away from Draco, trying to keep the anger he was feeling hidden. Harry knew that it would probably just make Draco feel worse.

“Well… you know… he’s not always like that,” Draco mumbled, not noticing Harry’s clenched fists. Draco stared down intently at his textbook, not wanting to face Harry.

“Draco,” Harry said calmly, “Is he always like that?”

Draco’s hand was slightly trembling, and he gulped down what felt like a storm of emotions, picking up his textbook, blinking back tears. He had answered so softly that Harry almost didn’t even hear him.

“Yes.” Draco felt like he was overreacting; being dramatic, even. So what if his father was a little strict? All parents are strict. That didn’t make it…

“I’m actually going to fucking-”

“Harry, don’t,” Draco said in a tone that Harry knew all too well. Harry bit his lip, frowning as he stared at Draco.

“What the hell, Draco? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Even if it’s verbal, it’s still abuse.”

“Well, this may come as a surprise to you, but it’s not exactly something I’d like to broadcast to the world,” Draco snapped.

“I’m not the world,” Harry pointed out, frowning, “and I sure as hell shouldn’t count as just ‘another person’ to you.” Harry unclenched his fist, lifting his hand and hesitantly touched Draco’s that was on the table. “I would have listened. And I would have tried to understand, to help. Draco, I’m not just anyone else. I _shouldn’t_ just be anyone else. Not to you.” Harry smiled slightly, “After all, I _am_ Harry Potter.” He added in an attempt to slightly lighten the mood.

“Yes,” Draco started off in a low voice, “you _are_ Harry Potter. You’re fucking Harry Potter, and your parents are dead. You will never understand.” Draco had said it before he could stop himself; before he had the time to realize what he was saying was wrong.

Harry let go of Draco’s hand as if it were fire, looking away from Draco. The stinging pain in his chest hit him; because no matter how much Harry denied it, it was true. He will never understand. And Harry will always have missed out on having a real family; a real childhood.

Draco visibly cringed, biting his lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“No, you’re right. My life couldn’t _possibly_ be worse, right? I’m the one with dead parents.”

“Harry, stop.”

“No, yeah, I’m so deprived, aren’t I? I didn’t have a proper childhood. And, let’s face it, I have no proper family either. So, really, I’m-”

“Shut the fuck up, Harry.” Draco muttered, starting to get annoyed.

“Oh, I’m fucking sorry, have I upset you? I thought you were the one to bring up the fact that I have no parents.” Harry replied, blinking innocently as he shot daggers with his eyes.

Draco felt his Dark Mark sting. He looked away from Harry, biting his lip. Draco knew very well that it was his fault. And that it was his fault for getting him worked up now. But let’s face it, once Harry’s worked up, there’s no point in trying to calm him until he’s said what he’s needed to.

Harry had calmed down slightly. He hung his head low, staring down at his lap. “Is that really all you think of me?” He asked in a low voice.

“You know it isn’t,” Draco replied. “Harry. It just slipped, okay? I didn’t mean it like that.” Draco looked down at his left arm - he still didn’t have the courage to wear short-sleeved clothes. It was still full-length shirts, his Dark Mark tucked away neatly. People knew to not bring it up; to leave it be. Most just steered clear of Draco.

Now, as it stung, memories from sixth year were slowly flooding back. All he could wonder was, why was it stinging? Harry had the same question about his scar. He slowly put a hand to his scar before looking up at Draco.

Perhaps it was because their scar/mark was hurting, or maybe it was because the memories were hitting both of them at the same time. Whatever it was, they both were suddenly getting riled up.

“What do you mean ‘you didn’t mean it like that’? There is only one way you could have meant it. And oh, I’m sorry, it _slipped_? My bad, let me just leave you to thinking those thoughts to just yourself, then,” Harry suddenly snapped. There had been a good moment of silence before Harry had spoken up.

Draco drew in a sharp breath. “Merlin, not everything is about you, Harry!” Draco grumbled. Any love they had in their eyes when they stared at each other, was gone. Now it was just daggers, glaring and frowns at each other.

Harry bit his lip, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown. “I just wanted to help-”

“I don’t need your fucking help.”

Harry took in a deep breath, swallowing what felt like a rock in his throat. “I just want to help you,” He whispered softly, his eyes getting welled up as he got more frustrated. “Please, Draco, just let me.”

“How could you possibly help?” Draco whispered, before biting his lip. “I don’t need your help. You would never understand.”

“Let me try to understand-”

“Just go away,” Draco snapped. “You would never understand. You won’t be able to help.” Draco clenched his jaw, looking away from Harry, clenching his fists as he tried to ease his anger; his frustration; his feelings. “You weren’t raised by abusive people.”

“Actually, I was,” Harry replied, standing up as he shut his books and dumped them into his bag.

Draco looked up at Harry. Of course. How could Draco fucking forget? He wanted to smash his own head against the wall. “Harry, I-”

“No, it’s fine, really. At least my own damn parents wouldn’t be abusive towards me,” Harry muttered before he could stop himself, turning away and exiting the library as quickly as he could.

As Harry walked down the hallway to go to his dorm, he wanted to walk back. He wanted to enter the library again and take back what he fucking said; because he didn’t mean it.

But, of course, he didn’t.

********

Two days had passed.

Draco and Harry had managed to avoid each other - which was actually quite hard. There was quite a less amount of Eighth Years, which made it harder for the two. After the war, everyone put their differences aside, and usually, they all hung out together.

On a Saturday evening, Harry walked into the Common Room, surprised to hear music and everyone in the room, in separate groups, talking. Hermione quickly approached Harry, noticing how confused he looked.

“It’s a party,” She said, a glass of Firewhiskey in her hand, “Pansy planned it. I don’t know why! I was supposed to be studying but Pansy forced me to stay. I have to admit, it’s been a bit fun. Where were you? The party started about an hour ago. Anyway, Draco’s over there. No one will notice you and him, so you can hang out if you want.” Hermione was talking really fast - it was clear that she was slightly drunk.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Is there more alcohol?” he asked, biting his lip. He looked over Hermione’s shoulder to see Draco sitting on the couch by himself.

“Tons,” Hermione said, taking his hand and dragging him to the drinks table. “Uh, here’s a glass-” She stopped talking as Harry grabbed the whole bottle itself and starting chugging it down. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s spectacular,” Harry said when he paused from drinking to catch his breath, before taking another gulp. Hermione raised an eyebrow but decided to leave Harry to it, joining Pansy and Luna to converse with them. Draco and Harry had been able to hide that they were arguing surprisingly well. Pansy and Hermione did notice that when they walked past each other in the hallway, they just disregarded each other’s presence rather than saying anything snarky or shooting an insult. They decided it was probably better not to pry, and just assume that they weren’t in the mood to fake-argue in front of everyone.

Harry constantly looked over to Draco. He knew it was stupid to approach him. They’d probably just end up arguing again. And Harry hated that. One thing he couldn’t stand more than arguing with Draco was when he could feel Draco’s pain as they argued. Which was exactly how Harry felt. Harry felt like he was being overdramatic, or just imagining it - but it had been true. It was almost as if Harry could feel his pain.

But that didn’t stop him from being a complete jerk. Harry couldn’t approach Draco now. Harry had been a dick towards him. Draco had every right to be upset - even though he had said some things about him too, Harry knew that he took it too far.

Harry wasn’t exactly a lightweight, but he wasn’t a heavyweight either. He was quite somewhere in the middle; which was probably why after chugging down the bottle and drinking another one had perhaps made him drunk.

Harry had taken his time with drinking the two bottles, but he still felt slightly dizzy as he took ahold of the third bottle, deciding it was too tiring for him to stand up. He slowly walked towards the couch, trying not to fall over in the process. Eventually, he made it to the sofa, sitting down beside a white-haired male, almost falling right on top of him.

“Whoops!” Harry said with a giggle. “Hi!”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry. “Hello,” He finally replied, slowly looking away. It hadn’t occurred to him that Harry was drunk - sure, he registered the strange behavior but didn’t think too much of it.

“How are you?” Harry asked, his words slightly slurred. It seemed as if Harry lost his stubbornness and was finally talking to Draco - well, it was more that Harry was too drunk to recognize Draco, and thought that the white-haired male beside him was someone else.

“Spectacular,” Draco replied, not looking back to Harry. He wondered why Harry was talking to him - and pretending as if they hadn’t argued, though he was slightly relieved. Draco had pushed the whole argument to the back of his mind so that he wouldn’t think about it. Bringing it up now probably wouldn’t be the best idea. “And you?” Draco added after a few moments, slowly turning to look at Harry.

Harry was looking around before slowly turning to Draco. “I’m really sad, you know,” Harry blurted, his green eyes widened as he stared into Draco’s silver ones. “You know Malfoy?”

Draco stared at Harry for a few seconds in disbelief, before looking down at the bottle in his hand, then glancing back up at Harry. “Uh… you could say I know him a bit too well,” He said rather awkwardly, deciding to just let the conversation continue. He thought it was better if Harry talked to him rather than anyone else while drunk.

Harry nodded at Draco, before feeling dizzy and falling right on Draco, “The room is really spinny today,” He slurred slightly. Feeling Draco’s hand touch his head, he flinched and got up, glaring at him. “Okay, excuse me. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a boyfriend.”

Draco stared at Harry with an amused expression on his face. “And who may that be?” He asked, his lips twitching into a slight smirk. Harry shook his head vigorously and continuously until he felt dizzy again, this time able to regain himself before he could fall over again.

Harry bit his lip, taking a long sip from the bottle of Firewhiskey, “Can I trust you?” He asked in a low voice, staring at the other intently, leaning in. Draco nodded, and Harry burst into hysterical giggles. “Okay, shh… you can’t tell anyone. I’m… I’m in love with Draco Malfoy.”

“Are you now?” Draco asked, a pure smirk on his face as he stared at Harry. Sure, he was upset with him, but it was hilarious to see what drunk Harry was like. Harry let out a loud whine as he punched the cushion beside him, frowning deeply as he nodded.

“Yesss,” He cried, “and I r-ruined everything! You see, I just wanted to help… to be th-there for him, and I ruined it. I also said some things I shouldn’t have said… even though I knew the pain he was going through…” Harry trailed off into silence.

Draco, by now, had taken the bottle from Harry’s hands and put it aside, staring intently at him, curious about what he had to say. “What do you mean you knew the pain he was going through?” He asked questioningly.

“You know… I could feel the pain he was feeling… it was weird, but I could, I swear I could. Do you believe me?” Harry asked, and Draco nodded slightly. “I just… I feel so te-terrible…”

“I’m sure he’ll forgive you,” Draco said after many moments of silence. “Till then, let’s get you to bed, shall we?”

“I’m not going into bed with you! Didn’t I just tell you? I have a boyfriend!” Harry protested loudly, which instantly made Draco actually feel relieved that there was loud Muggle music playing and people couldn’t hear him.

Draco rolled his eyes, but carefully took Harry’s hands and took him to his dorm, gently pushing him into bed, tucking him away, giving him some water to drink before he could fall asleep. Draco stared at Harry for a few seconds, who had his eyes shut, before he gently placed a kiss on his forehead, turning away to leave.

“I told you, I have a boyfriend,” Harry murmured, his eyes still shut. Draco chuckled slightly, turning around to look at Harry.

“My bad, it was a moment of weakness,” Draco replied, biting his lip as he smiled at Harry.

“When Draco finds out, you’ll be having more than just one moment of weakness,” Harry muttered, adjusting himself on the bed and turning so that his back was facing Draco, who was silently chuckling to himself before he left.

*********

Harry woke up to a pounding head as he slowly sat up, groaning in pain.

“Same, mate, same,” Ron called out from his bed as he slowly sat up too. Harry and Ron turned to face each other, both massaging their temples in an attempt to get rid of the pounding headache the two were getting.

“I wasn’t even there for most of the party… fuck, how much did I drink?” Harry said with a slight groan. “Had to have been a bottle or two… How about you, Ron?”

“Can’t remember,” Ron said, getting up and quickly running to the bathroom before Harry even had a chance to stand up. Harry groaned but laid back down on his bed, realizing it was probably better that he got to relax a bit more while waiting for Ron to get out of the shower. Harry felt around for his glasses and slowly placed them on, surprised to see a glass with a little water left in it on his bedside table.

That’s when the puzzle pieces were put together, and right when Harry wanted to actually disappear from existence. He facepalmed and ran a hand through his hair - how stupid could he get? First, deciding to get drunk, then going over to Draco and not even recognizing him? Harry couldn’t even imagine what was going through Draco’s mind.

Harry didn’t remember most of what happened, just a few moments of the beginning of his conversation with Draco. He didn’t remember how he got into bed, or what happened before that. And additional to the pounding headache, Harry’s scar was burning slightly and his chest felt queasy. He slowly got up, exiting the dorm and slowly walking down the hallway to Draco’s dorm, knocking on the door lightly. Though it was ten in the morning, no one was awake - everyone was probably hungover from the party.

Harry realized it was probably not a good idea to talk to Draco, but before he could walk away, the door opened and Draco stood there, staring at Harry.

There was a moment of tenseness as the two stared at each other. Harry bit his lip, conflicted as to what to do or say, and then settled on doing something quite stupid.

He pounced on Draco, wrapping his legs around the other’s waist as tears were starting to spill down his cheeks, burying his face into his neck. Draco, startled,

staggered a few steps backwards, but managed to balance himself before they could both fall on the floor.

Draco hesitantly put his arms around Harry so he wouldn’t fall, biting his lip.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Harry was mumbling into Draco’s neck, “I really am. I don’t know what I was thinking. I shouldn’t have said that stupid shit. I didn’t mean it, okay? I didn’t.”

“Harry…”

Harry slowly got off Draco, wiping his tears away as he sniffled slightly, looking up at the taller male. “Draco, let me be there for you,” Harry whispered softly, taking a hold of Draco’s hand.

Draco’s hand trembled slightly as Harry held it. Harry noticed, but didn’t say anything, his green eyes sparkling as he stared into glistening silver ones. “You could never understand,” He said slowly and in a quiet voice.

“I don’t need to understand. I don’t need to be able to help,” Harry whispered in a soothing tone, using his index fingers to draw circles on the other’s hand, slowly taking Draco to sit on his bed.

“I don’t need-”

“I know you don’t,” Harry said calmly, frowning. “Still… let me be there. For me.”

“If you really have to…” Draco whispered, leaning forward and placing his head on Harry’s chest, trying to hide the fact that there were tears streaming down his face. Harry, of course, knew that he was crying. But he simply wrapped his arms around Draco, pulling him onto his lip and rocking him gently.

********

“Hey, guys, what are your plans for Christmas?” asked Ron as he sat down on the sofa in the Common Room, beside Draco and Harry who were holding hands under the blanket that was over both of them. “The holidays start in a few days.”

Everyone in the Eighth Year knew about Draco and Harry - well, to a certain extent. The only people who knew that they were dating were Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Pansy. The rest all just thought that Malfoy and Potter finally put their differences aside and decided to be friends.

“I don’t know, actually,” Harry said, turning his head to face Draco. “Are you going home?”

“Do you guys actually need to-”

“Yes.” Draco and Harry said at the same time, cutting Ron off, before turning back to each other. “I don’t know… I do think it’s a good idea to go home for Christmas, but I don’t think I can stay at Malfoy Manor for the whole-”

“You know, you can ask me to come to stay at Grimmauld Place with you, right?” Harry said with an eye roll, but squeezed Draco’s hand gently under the blanket, sneaking a smile at him, before turning to Ron. “What about you guys?”

“I think it’s better if we go,” Ron said, “I don’t know if ‘Mione will come-”

“What do you mean? Of course, I’m coming!” Hermione protested from the other side of the room, walking towards Ron and grinning at him. “I’ll go if you go.” She leaned forwards and before Draco and Harry knew it, they were making out beside them.

“Uh, can we get back to the conversation, please?” Harry asked awkwardly, shifting as Draco faked a gag. Ron and Hermione slowly pulled apart, breathless and grinning, turning back to Draco and Harry.

“As I was saying, I think it’s best if we go back for Christmas. Ever since Fred…” Ron trailed off into silence, biting his lip. Harry nodded, frowning as he bit his lip. “Harry, you’ll come for Christmas dinner, right?” Ron paused, then added, “And… I suppose bringing Malfoy along wouldn’t be the _worst_ thing in the world.”

“Gee, thanks, Weasley,” Draco replied with an eye roll but nodded slightly. “But Harry, I want you to meet my parents too.”

Harry, who was not really doing anything in particular, choked on his saliva, coughing like a maniac, before looking up at Draco. “Excuse me, what?” Harry asked, “A dinner with the Malfoys! Outrageous. It’s almost as if you want your family to hate me.”

“My mother won’t hate you! Er… well, my father on the other hand-”

“Just as I thought! There’s no way in hell I can come.”

********

As it turned out, Draco used his charms to somehow convince Harry to come to Christmas dinner on the 26th, the Second Day of Christmas. But first, they had to go through a Christmas dinner with the Weasleys.

Needless to say, Draco was beyond frantic.

“But Harry! These people practically treat you as their own son! I can’t mess up! Besides, they already hate me so much! Harry, I can’t do this. I can’t! They hate me! They’re going to hate me even more-”

“Will. You. Relax?! You’re giving me a fucking headache!” Harry cut Draco off from his ranting, rubbing his temples before taking another sip of his coffee. “Look, they don’t hate _you_ , per se. Just… you know, your families aren’t exactly the best of friends-”

“Oh, yes, I love the pep talk, babe, it’s helping a lot.”

“Will you let me finish?” Harry said, leaning forward and smacking his shoulder lightly. “All I’m saying is, it might take some time to get used to it. I’m sure after dinner they’ll all love you as I do.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “Not that I would be complaining, I think there would be a problem if all of them love me as you do,” Draco said, snickering slightly. “Well, I am quite an attractive man, but, I don’t think I’d want all of the Weasley family to lo-”

“Shut up,” Harry said, but he was grinning as he moved over and sat down on Draco’s lap. “Merry Christmas, Draco.”

“Merry Christmas, my love,” Draco replied, running his hands through Harry’s hair, turning to face the fireplace that was in front of them. “I got you something.” He slowly picked up Harry and put him down on the sofa, going to the Christmas tree and picking up the small box, walking back to Harry, smiling slightly as he handed it to him.

Harry, excited, practically grabbed it from his hands and tore it open, revealing a small box, his eyes widening as he looked up at Draco. There were two, shiny gold rings inside.

“It’s a promise ring,” Draco said, panicked when he noticed Harry’s smile fading. “I… Oh fuck, should I have not gotten you that? I just thought… I can’t propose, but I just thought if I promised-”

“I love it,” Harry said, choking up, trying desperately to hold back tears. “It’s beautiful.” His hand trembling slightly, he picked up one of the rings, taking Draco’s left hand and putting it on his ring finger. “There,” He said in more of a whisper than a loud voice.

Draco picked up the other one and took Harry’s left hand, putting it on his ring finger, lifting his hand to his face and kissing it gently. “I love you, Harry,” He whispered, starting to play with Harry’s fingers as he started to feel slightly embarrassed.

“I love you too, Draco,” Harry whispered back, unable to stop a grin forming on his face. “Okay, look at what I got you!” he said excitedly, running to the Christmas tree and grabbing his present for Draco. “Okay, so I know you don’t really know about Muggle stuff, so I got you this.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, taking the box from him and opened the wrapping neatly (unlike Harry who ripped it open), placing it to the side, frowning as he stared at a box that had “iPhone 7” written on it.

He slowly opened the box and picked up the device, looking up at Harry in confusion. “You got me metal? I mean, thanks? What are these buttons on the side-” Draco let out a blood-curdling scream when the phone lit up, “What the fuck?! What the fuck, what the fu-”

“Calm down, Draco! It’s a phone.” Harry gently took the phone from his hands and started to set everything up for him, carefully explaining the process on the way. After it was done, Harry handed it to him. “Here. Now, press down on this button. This is called the Home Button. You can use it for exiting apps- applications and stuff like that.”

Draco, who was still suspiciously staring at the phone as if it could kill him at any moment, hesitantly pressed down on the home button.

“Sorry, I couldn’t quite get that.”

Draco shrieked once again, “WHO THE FUCK IS THAT IN MY PHONE, HARRY? YOU CAN TRAP PEOPLE IN THIS DEVICE? I DON’T WANT IT! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!”

Harry burst into laughter, unable to contain it anymore. “Draco, it’s Siri. She’s like a robot assistant.”

“I don’t trust this fucking device.”

********

“Holy shit, Harry. You had me so worked up over the metal device that I completely forgot about Christmas dinner with the Weasleys. Oh, they’re going to hate me. They’re going to actually hate me!”

Draco and Harry had just Apparated right outside The Burrow, and Draco was tightly clutching Harry’s hand, frowning deeply. Much to no one’s surprise, Draco decided to leave the iPhone back at Grimmauld Place until, as he quote on quote said, ‘decided it was worthy of his trust’. Harry thought it was cute how he was scared of such a little device like that, but he was probably the only one on Earth who could find Draco’s constant shrieking as soon as something on the phone happened cute.

“They won’t hate you! It’s really hard for them to hate people, okay? You’ll be fine. Trust me,” Harry tried to reassure Draco, and frankly, he didn’t know if it was working or not. “Okay, let’s go inside. I’m freezing.”

“Give me a kiss for good luck, at least?” Draco said in a slight whiny tone, and Harry rolled his eyes, turning to Draco and kissing him on the lips softly, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Just then, the door sprung wide open. Draco and Harry managed to jump apart just in time, both breathing heavily, almost having a heart attack. Harry bit his lip as he stood there for a few moments, looking at Draco, before turning to who was at the door.

“Molly! Hi!” Harry greeted, hoping she didn’t see - and if she did see, she’d pretend nothing happened. He walked forwards and hugged her.

“Harry, dear, it’s so great to see you!” Molly said as she gushed, hugging him tightly before slowly pulling away, smiling softly as she turned to see Draco awkwardly standing there.

“Oh, Molly, I really hope you don’t mind that I brought a… _friend_ ,” Harry said, accidentally stressing on the word ‘friend’ too much.

“Harry, you didn’t even ask if I could come?” Draco whisper-shouted, before turning to face Molly Weasley. “I really don’t mean to bother you guys… I think it’s best if I go-”

“Now don’t be silly, dear! Any friend of Harry’s is always welcome,” Molly said with a smile, ushering them inside before Draco could argue.

“Harry!” Hermione called from the living room, grinning. She walked up to Harry and hugged him tightly, grinning at him, before slowly turning to Draco. The two stared at each other awkwardly. Hermione finally pulled him into an awkward, quick hug, before quickly pulling away as soon as possible.

“Hey, mate,” Ron said from behind Harry, hugging Harry for a long moment, before turning to Draco. The two awkwardly shook hands.

“Uh, well, Merry Christmas!” Harry said, taking the gift boxes he had in his hands and put it under the Christmas tree.

Harry could tell this was going to be a long evening.

*********

The awkwardness had somehow managed to die out soon after Draco had greeted all of the Weasleys. Draco ended up in a heated discussion with Hermione about some book that Hermione thought was amazing but Draco hated.

“Harry, dear, could you help me out with setting the table?” Molly called from the kitchen, and Harry quickly got up and went as asked, flashing a smile at her as he started helping her out with setting the table.

They were setting the table in silence, until…

“So, Harry, are you really just friends with Draco? Because well… I saw you kissing, and being friends with benefits really isn’t a good idea, not that I’m speaking from experience, I just had a friend-”

“Merlin, what?” Harry asked, almost dropping one of the plates on the floor. “No! No, Draco and I are dating. We’re not… we’re not friends with benefits… Merlin, I didn’t even know people in the Wizarding World did that!” Molly smiled sweetly at Harry.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. But it seems to me you’re more than just dating…” She glanced down to Harry’s left hand.

“Oh, this? It’s just a promise ring…” Harry awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “No, Draco and I are just dating for now…” Molly nodded to show she understood, still smiling. Harry paused for a few seconds, before biting his lip. “S-so, you’re okay with me being gay?”

“Well, of course, dear! Why wouldn’t I be?” Molly asked with a smile. “Well, you know, I always had a sort of hunch. Why did it take so long for you to tell us? You should know we’d all accept you.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Thanks,” he said, sighing in relief. “I guess I never really, uh… thought about telling anyone. It was more just about being with Draco rather than telling anyone about it.”

“That’s good, that’s good… well, as long as you’re happy, we’re happy too, I hope you realize that.”

Dinner was a bit weird for everyone. Draco and Harry sat down beside each other - Draco really did not want to sit next to anyone else, he still felt super awkward.

“So, Draco,” Arthur Weasley started, “How come you and Harry are friends after all these years?”

Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Draco all stopped chewing, and Ron even choked on his food a little. All four of them mentally cringed.

“Uh…” Draco turned to face Harry, unsure of what to say. Neither of them ever really discussed how they were going to say it.

“Well, uh, Arthur,” Harry gulped down the food he was chewing, setting his knife and fork down, clearing his throat awkwardly, “Draco and I are um… sort of, kinda, in… a relationship.”

Ginny Weasley, who was sitting next to Harry, choked on the water she was drinking, spitting it out all over her plate, coughing violently. “I’m okay,” She said croakily, patting her chest and drinking more water to calm herself. Draco snickered behind his hands, trying his best to stop laughing, which made Harry start to snicker too.

Luckily, the two hid it quite well. Arthur Weasley, who was staring at Draco and Harry, nodded. “Interesting, interesting. Well, congratulations.”

Silence.

“So, Mr. Malfoy, what exactly are your intentions with Harry?” Arthur said after about five minutes of silence. Hermione and Harry exchanged glances, and an awkward, red-faced Draco wished he could literally be in Azkaban than having this conversation. George and Charlie tried not to laugh.

“Well, S-sir, I intend to spend the rest of my life with him,” Draco said, his chest tightening as he chewed on his lip. Harry put his left hand under the table (Draco was to his left) and got a hold of it, squeezing it gently.

“You don’t sound too sure of that,” Arthur said, narrowing his eyes at Draco.

Everyone stared as silence fell once again.

“Only kidding! Welcome to the family, boy.”

“Oh, Arthur, look what you did to the poor boy! He’s all shaken up. Don’t worry, Draco. You’re welcome here any time. Harry seems to be so fond of you. If he cares about you, so do we.” Molly said, giving him a reassuring smile.

 _Oh,_ Harry wished to himself, _if only the dinner at Malfoy Manor could go like this tomorrow._

After dinner, gifts were exchanged. Harry gave Hermione yet another book, and Hermione gave Harry a watch. Harry gave Ron a lot of food, and Ron gave Harry a music box saying it was so cool how Muggles could make things like that. Draco gave Hermione a book too, and Ron a Muggle pen. Hermione gave Draco a fairytale book, and Ron gave Draco a scarf.

Harry gave Arthur a rubber duck, Molly a necklace, Charlie a book about dragons, Bill a book about Herbology (Harry really just took a long shot there) and George a joke about books.

“We should get going,” Draco said, slowly getting up.

“Oh, yes but, just wait! I’ve got gifts for the two of you,” Molly said, rushing up to the two of them and each handing them a box.

“Aw, you really didn’t have to-”

“Oh just open it!” Molly said excitedly.

Harry opened his and smiled when he saw it was a sweater with the letter ‘H’ on it. “Thank you!” He said, quickly pulling it on and giving Molly a hug, before turning to Draco. “Hey Draco, we should- Draco?”

Draco Malfoy stood at the door of The Burrow, trying his best not to cry as he pulled on his sweater. “I-I get my own Weasley sweater?” He asked, holding back the tears. “H-Harry, see! I don’t have to wear yours anymore…”

Molly laughed lightly. “I’m glad you like it, dear. Please do come back before you go back to Hogwarts-”

Draco pulled Molly Weasley into a hug. “Thank you,” He whispered softly, “but I didn’t get you anything, and-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, dear. I have loads of things anyway,” Molly said with a smile. “Now, off you two go. It’s getting quite late.”

Harry and Draco smiled at Molly, saying bye to everyone before turning. Molly tapped Harry on his shoulder, and he turned around, wondering why she was calling him back.

“Take good care of him,” She whispered after leaning in, “He’s such a sweetheart. Don’t let him get hurt.”

Harry smiled, before determinedly saying, “I won’t.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter is actually quite long. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it! I think we can all guess what's going to happen in the next chapter... oof. 
> 
> Merry (late, I know) Christmas! And Happy New Year's Eve - it's literally 2 in the morning as I post this, I hope you guys are grateful for how late I stay up to finish chapters :( 
> 
> Till the next chapter! <3
> 
> p.s CAN WE JUST PRETEND IPHONES EXIST IN THEIR TIME PLS THANKS


	31. Chapter 31

When Harry woke the next day, it was his turn to be frantic. He sat on the bed as Draco entered the room, handing Harry a cup of coffee.

“You okay, love?” Draco asked softly as he sat down beside Harry, who was frowning as he took a sip of his coffee.

“They’ll hate me,” Harry muttered. “They already hate me. I’m not worthy of your family, Draco. I’m not a pureblood, and I don’t know basic etiquettes… they’re going to hate me, more than they already do.”

“I’m there,” Draco said. “It’ll just take some getting used to. I don’t care if you’re a pureblood or not. They shouldn’t either. You’ll be fine.” Well, the truth was, Draco didn’t know if he would be fine. Sure, things with the Weasleys had gone quite smoothly, but the Malfoys… well, needless to say, they were a whole different story.

Draco and Harry Apparated together in front of Malfoy Manor, and Draco took a hold of Harry’s hand, holding it tightly. “You’ll be okay,” He said softly.

“I sure as hell hope so, Draco,” Harry replied, biting his lip as he frowned. Draco slowly opened the large doors of Malfoy Manor, entering the mansion.

“Draco!” Narcissa Malfoy smiled as she noticed the two enter, pulling Draco into a tight hug. Anyone could tell how desperately she seemed to hug her son. Harry found it sweet. Narcissa turned to Harry, her smile widening. “Oh, Harry, I’ve been waiting so long to see you.”

A confused Harry mouthed ‘What?’ to Draco as Narcissa pulled him into a hug, before pulling away and starting to rant.

“Oh, I really have to thank you. Draco was so unhappy until you came along, and now that you’re here, he really does seem happier-”

“You know,” Harry said, finally putting the pieces together, before turning to Draco. “Thanks for telling me, Draco.” He added with an eye roll, staring at the other who sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his neck.

“Yes, Mother knows, but uh, Father doesn’t quite know-”

“Know what, exactly?” An icy, stony voice spoke from behind all three of them. Harry noticed that Narcissa’s smile faded, only to be quickly replaced with a different sort of smile as she turned to face her husband. Harry awkwardly cleared his throat as Draco finally spoke up.

“Well, uh… Harry will be having dinner with us, Father,” Draco said, edging closer to Harry, who was trying his best to smile. Though he despised Lucius Malfoy, he was trying desperately not to for Draco. Harry knew that the last thing Draco needed right now was for his boyfriend and his father to fight. 

After everyone was settling on the table, Harry exchanged glances with Draco. So far, only Narcissa had managed to make a nice impression towards Harry. And maybe perhaps one of the house elves, but that was it. Lucius Malfoy had kept his icy expression from the moment he had entered the room and until now.

“So, _Potter_ ,” Lucius spoke up, “how lovely to see you in our home.”

“How lovely of you to have me, Sir,” Harry replied, trying his best to sound genuine. Draco mentally cringed. 

"So you and my son are...  _friends_?"

Harry and Draco exchanged glances. "Well... perhaps... uh... more than friends," Harry managed to say, feeling embarrassed.  

Luckily, Narcissa Malfoy had managed to put the conversation in a different direction.

“So, how’s the Eighth Year, kids? Handling it well?” she asked, flashing a smile towards Draco and Harry. The two smiled, grateful that she had changed the subject.

“Ah, yes. They don’t allow us to be in separate houses, though, and Quidditch is simply out of the question… it’s really a pity. All of us had quite a lot of fun playing the sport,” Harry explained, awkwardly eating the food. It wasn’t that the food was bad, it was just that he felt odd feeling Lucius Malfoy’s eyes on him as he ate.

Narcissa nodded in understanding, “I can understand. Draco always loved playing Quidditch… Though he would always come every winter and complain about how he lost to Potter once again… and how annoying Potter was, and how he just wished that you could have been friends-”

“ _Mother_!” Draco whined, his face getting red as he embarrassedly turned to Harry. “She’s just joking… I didn’t wish that at all… pfft.” Harry simply snickered to himself, turning to Narcissa who was grinning, winking at Harry sneakily before returning to eat her food.

********

The rest of dinner was mostly in silence. Lucius hadn’t said a word. After dinner was over, Narcissa pleaded desperately for Draco and Harry to spend the night, how it was so lovely having Draco home that she didn’t want him to go soon.

“Your mother is so lovely,” Harry said with a sigh as he shut the door behind them, looking around Draco’s large room, plopping himself down on the bed, too tired to look through Draco’s stuff in his room. “She’s so nice… I really wasn’t expecting that.”

“Gee, thanks,” Draco said with an eye roll, turning away from Harry as he removed his shirt to change into his pajamas. Harry grinned, slowly getting up and walking over to Draco, wrapping his arms around his bare torso, kissing his shoulder gently. Harry felt as the other male froze. He raised an eyebrow but thought nothing of it.

The green-eyed boy slowly turned Draco around so he was facing him, raking his eyes over the other’s chest before stopping short, noticing the scars all over his chest. Harry slowly took a step back, laughing slightly as he put his hand out and traced one finger over one of the scars, jumping slightly when a memory hit him as soon as he touched the scar.

_“No, you did, Draco! You ruined absolutely everything!” Harry had screamed, and Draco slowly lowered his wand._

_“Harry-”_

_“Sectumsempra!” Harry had shouted._

“N-no,” Harry whispered, “I didn’t- I… Fuck, I…” Harry looked away, unable to stare at the scars anymore, his eyes glistening with tears. “No, I…”

“Harry, it’s not that bad-”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Fuck, why are you with me? L-look at what I did to you,” Harry was saying, turning to face Draco. He took Draco’s hand and made him trace over one of the scars, “I can’t believe… I should have known it would have been this brutal… I’m so, so sorry, I…”

“Hey, hey,” Draco whispered, removing Harry’s glasses and wiping his tears away, cupping his cheeks, “I forgive you, okay? Besides, it was mostly my fault-”

“No, don’t say that; it was mine-”

“We could go on about this all night. It was both of our faults, okay? I’m okay, aren’t I? And I forgive you. And I love you, and I know you’ll never do it again. Don’t worry, okay? No one blames you.”

“Okay…” Harry whispered, nodding as he put his glasses back on, biting his lip, still frowning. 

“Do you need me to get you some water?” Draco asked as he finished changing into his silk pajamas.

“No, no, I’ll go get some myself,” Harry said with a slight sniffle, “Just… I don’t have any night clot-”

“On it,” Draco said at once, turning to his closet. “Go drink water. If you get lost, call out to me.”

“I love how you just know you live in such a great mansion that people get lost in it,” Harry said with an eye roll.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t be the first person to get lost in Malfoy Manor,” Draco said with an eye roll as Harry left to the kitchen.

“Potter,” Lucius Malfoy said as Harry entered, which made him almost jump out of his skin.

“Mr. Malfoy,” Harry said after he composed himself, surprised to see him there. The house elves were all done with cleaning and cooking, so they were off somewhere else. Which, in Harry’s opinion, made things worse. He got a glass and poured water in it, downing it as quickly as possible before turning to leave.

“You know, Potter, you aren’t worthy enough for my son.”

There it was. Harry slowly turned around, smiling bitterly at Lucius. “Pardon?” he asked in a sweet voice, trying to be the bigger person and let Lucius take back what he said.

“I’m sure you heard me, Potter. Didn’t you?” Lucius asked in an icy tone. “My son shouldn’t be dating a lowlife like you.”

“I really think that’s his decision,” Harry said. Any tears he had before were long gone, replaced with feelings of anger and frustration.

“Ah, that’s really where you are wrong. My son is too young to understand that this is merely just a… _phase_. Soon he will be coming to me asking me why I let him date you.”

“A phase?” Harry asked. He wanted to laugh. “I’m sorry to say, but your son has done quite some things that make it not _just a phase_.”

“I do suggest that you break up with him before I have to take matters into my own hands, Potter,” Lucius said, “And I really know that you’re smart. So make the right decision.”

Harry slowly took a step towards Lucius, glaring at him. There was no way to express how much Harry wanted to hex him or cast a spell on him. But he controlled himself. “Oh, sir, I really am making the right decision.”

Before he knew it, Lucius had his wand out. “What do you know? You’re a lowlife. You’re probably only with my son to get his money.”

“I love him,” Harry said in a firm tone, “and _what I know_ is, that’s more than what you could ever say.” Harry bit his lip, before opening his mouth again. “ _Expelliarmus!_ ” He shot, grabbing Lucius’ wand and clutching it tightly.

Lucius said nothing.

“Let me make it a bit clearer to you,” Harry said, “As long as I’m alive, I won’t let you hurt Draco. And that’s a promise.” Harry set down Lucius’ wand on the counter, before turning to exit the kitchen.

“Draco?” Harry questioned when he noticed the silver-eyed boy standing outside of the kitchen, who grabbed the other’s hand and dragged him into his room. “Wait, you heard what happened?”

“Well, yeah,” Draco said as he started to kiss Harry’s neck.

“And you don’t hate me?”

“Hate? Excuse me, that was really hot,” Draco whispered, before jumping on Harry, wrapping his legs around his waist. “You’re really hot when you’re protective, you know that?”

Harry simply shrugged, pulling Draco into a kiss, wrapping his arms to hold Draco up, their tongues dancing in each other’s mouth as Harry slowly moved towards the desk table, setting Draco down on the table, starting to kiss his neck, biting at it to leave a mark.

Draco let out a soft, low moan as Harry’s hands slowly trailed down to his thighs. Harry stopped kissing his neck, slowly looking up at Draco, slowly taking a step back. Draco opened his eyes and nodded at Harry.

“Are you sure?” Harry asked, biting his lip.

“Yes,” Draco whispered hotly, which made Harry practically pounce back on Draco, carefully unbuttoning his silk shirt, then he slowly slipped off Draco’s pants, slowly trailing his hand on his inner thighs, teasing him slightly, before touching-

“Hey, kids, I got some tea for you-”

Draco and Harry jumped so suddenly that Harry had to lean against the table, and Draco hit his head against the wall, quickly pulling his pants up before Narcissa could walk in. Narcissa walked in, smiling as she set down the tray of hot tea, before looking up. She studied Draco’s messy hair and unbuttoned shirt, and the fresh hickey on his neck, before going to Harry who’s glasses were tilted, his shirt was half tucked and half untucked, and then taking in a deep breath.

“Oh, should I have knocked?” Narcissa asked.

Harry and Draco turned to look at each other, before shaking their heads frantically.

“I was showing Harry this bruise and-”

“And I was just starting to change, so uh-”

“Oh, yeah, I understand,” Narcissa said with a nod. She awkwardly turned to leave. Just as she was at the door, she quickly turned to Draco. “Hey, Draco, please remember to use some sort of protection. I know it’s impossible for you to-”

“ _MOTHER!_ ” Draco shouted, feeling utter embarrassment, burying his face into his hands.

“Sorry! I just thought you need to know!” She protested, before shutting the door and leaving.

The two were in silence for a few seconds, before Harry burst out laughing. “Dear lord, things are sure going to be awkward at breakfast tomorrow.” Draco nodded in agreement, sighing.

Harry walked over to the bed where Draco had placed blue silk pajamas. “All you own are silk pajamas, I swear,” Harry muttered as he pulled off his shirt, putting on the clothes before flopping himself down on the bed again, staring up at the ceiling. Draco stayed sitting on the desk, looking over at Harry.

The two didn’t want to break the uncomfortable silence, so they decided to stay there like that for a few moments.

“Draco?”

“Still thinking about it, aren’t you? I told you; I’m fine. It was nearly two years ago. I’m all healed.”

“Yes, but-”

“No buts,” Draco managed to say firmly and gently at the same time, jumping off his desk table and lying down beside Harry on the bed, taking his hand and touching the gold ring. “I know this is hard to comprehend, but if I hated you for it, I probably wouldn’t have given you this ring.”

Harry lifted up his right hand, maybe to smack the other playfully, but he ended up turning to face Draco, cupping his cheek, looking far into his silver, glistening eyes, leaning in close, close enough to feel Draco’s gentle breathing on his lips. Draco stared back into Harry’s shining green eyes as he laid back on the bed, wondering what was going through the other’s mind.

“Harry?” Draco whispered after a few moments, aching for Harry to kiss him. 

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to capture this moment so it can stay in my mind forever.”

“Why?”

“Because I never want to forget you.”

“Well, unless someone uses the _Obliviate_ spell on you, I think you’re good-”

Harry cut Draco off by pressing their lips together, leaning forward only slightly, (after all, their lips were already quite close) tilting his head. Unlike the kiss before, this one was far more gentle; more sweet, and definitely calmer. Draco was surprised by the sudden change in emotion, but didn’t say anything; happy to kiss Harry back without questioning it.

Draco figured that Harry still blamed himself for what happened. Maybe it was wrong of him to hide the scars for so long; it was bound to take a toll on Harry since he had moved past it.

 

Once Harry pulled away, he gave a lingering look towards Draco before turning and laying back down on the bed, pulling the duvet over them both. Draco wrapped an arm around Harry, and they stayed that way under the Gryffindor finally managed to fall asleep, his soft snores making the Slytherin slowly fall asleep as well.

*******

“Harry, it’s cold,” Draco whined, “Why did we agree to come see some stupid Muggle fireworks with Muggles around?”

Rolling his eyes, Harry removed his scarf and put it around Draco’s neck, securing it properly so it wouldn’t fall off. “Better?” He asked. “Ron and Hermione will be here soon. You _did_ ask Pansy and Luna to come too, right?”

“Yes,” Draco grumbled.

“What are you complaining about? I gave you my scarf, my gloves, my hat, would you like me to just give you all my clothes?”

“Seriously? Arguing when it’s so close to the New Year?” Hermione asked with an eye roll as she and Ron approached Draco and Harry. Ron just rolled his eyes, implying that he agreed with Hermione.

“Wouldn’t be normal for them if they weren’t arguing about something stupid,” Pansy replied as she walked up to the four along with Luna. Draco and Harry gasped dramatically before they shot everyone a look.

“We do  _not_ argue all the time! How rude.” The two managed to somehow say at the same time.

“Look, it’s one thing they can actually agree on!” Pansy teased, receiving a snowball in the face from Draco. “Oh, you did  _not_ just do that,” Pansy stated, leaning down and quickly making a snowball and throwing at Draco, who instead of throwing a snowball back, turned away, burying his face into Harry’s chest.

“He’s just tired,” Harry said to the rest who were raising an eyebrow, surprised that Harry was going along with Draco’s dramatic act, watching as he ran his fingers through Draco’s hair and held him tightly. “He’ll be fine once he sees the fireworks.”

“That’s literally not for another forty-five minutes,” Ron said, frowning at the sight.

“Just… just give him five minutes,” Harry said. “Could you guys go get some food? Draco and I haven’t eaten in a long time.”

The four (Pansy, Luna, Ron, and Hermione) shot Harry a look but went anyways, to the nearby stands that were selling sweet foods. Luna hung back for a few seconds, sensing something was wrong but caught up with the others when Harry noticed that she was still there.

“Draco? Are you okay?” Harry spoke when he was sure the rest were out of earshot. Harry tried to speak in a gentle voice, pulling him carefully away from his chest so he could look at him. “Did something happen at lunch today with your father?”

Draco didn’t say anything. His eyes slid away from Harry’s, still feeling the other’s gaze on him as he bit his lip.

“I knew I should have come,” Harry said, clenching his fists.

“Don’t do that,” Draco told him, instantly noticing his fists and placing his hands over Harry’s, unclenching his fists. “It was fine… stop looking at me like that. So it wasn’t fine. So what? It’s never fine.”

“Draco, I want you to forget about your father, okay? I used to try and distract myself with other things until I was able to address the issue without it upsetting me. I know that isn’t quite a helpful or the right way to go about things, but… it’s New Year’s Eve, and the rest are also going to start asking what’s wrong, and… and I don’t want you feeling like this, especially today…”

Draco stood in silence, before nodding. “Yeah… yeah, okay.”

“I’m sorry… Do you just want to go home, then, yeah? We can-”

“No! No. I’m okay. Just leave it…”

Harry frowned, but decided not to pester. Draco probably needed space. Harry turned away, taking a step back from Draco. But then Harry remembered what it was like for him whenever he was locked away under the stairs inside the closet, how he would just want someone to hug him till he’d forget about the pain that filled his mind and his chest; so Harry took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Draco, walking over to the nearby bench and holding him tightly.

It was just what Draco needed.

“Alright, so I don’t really know what Malfoy likes, but I got my favorite,” Ron said, handing Harry a paper plate that had a freshly made waffle with chocolate syrup, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. Pansy stared down at Draco who had a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the ground, slightly confused as to why he seemed so upset.

“Hey, guys, do you hear that buzzing?” Luna asked in her casual dreamy voice, smiling slightly. “I think it could be the Nargles.”

“I thought you said Nargles live in mistletoes?” Harry asked after everyone stared at her for a few seconds. Pansy rolled her eyes and grabbed the waffle from Harry’s hand, biting into it. “Hey! That was ours!”

“Oh grow up!” Pansy said, sticking her tongue out at Harry, who scoffed.

“Oh yes, it’s me who has to grow up,” Harry replied with an eye roll. He grabbed the waffle back and starting eating, turning to Hermione, Ron, and Luna who seemed to be arguing.

“Luna, Nargles aren’t real,” Hermione said with a slight chuckle, seeming as if she had been aching to say that. “I don’t know where you came up with them, but they’re. _Not_. Real.”

“Oh, Hermione, just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean it isn’t real,” Luna replied, practically beaming. “Believing or not believing, they will still be real.”

Hermione chuckled bitterly, “Believing or not believing, they will still _not_ be real.”

“Calm down, Hermione,” Ron said with a slight laugh. Hermione raised an eyebrow offendedly, turning to face Ron, who took a step back, “Only joking. You don’t need to calm down, because you are calm…”

“Ron’s right,” Pansy said, who had been amusedly enjoying the conversation. “Nargles are real, okay?! If Luna says they’re real then I believe her.” Harry groaned as Pansy smirked, ready for Hermione to start arguing about the facts and how Nargles were not real.

“Okay, for one, we don’t even have _proof_ that they exist-”

“Proof? Who needs proof! It’s clearly true!” Pansy said with a laugh, standing up and resting her elbow on Luna’s shoulder, clearly amused by Hermione’s outrage and her need to tell everyone the right facts.

“I see what you’re trying to do here, and I’m not going to fall for it,” Hermione huffed, looking away. Pansy rolled her eyes, continuing to pester Hermione, poking her and teasing her.

Harry felt Draco shaking - he had still been holding Draco - and he turned to face him, slightly worried, but was relieved to see that Draco was laughing. “You all are so lame.”

“Except me?” Harry asked, smiling.

“Especially you,” Draco said with an eye roll, taking the waffle from Harry’s hands and starting to eat it. Harry stared at him, pouting, turning away and folding his arms. “Oh, come on, I was just joking!” Draco said when he noticed Harry pouting and being overdramatic. He pulled Harry to face him, pressing his lips on his and kissing him softly. Harry was happy to kiss him right back as their tongues danced in each other’s mouth.

“Okay, ew,” Pansy said, rolling her eyes and turning away. Ron just gagged, Hermione rolled her eyes and Luna smiled.

“Okay, really, that’s more than enough,” Hermione said after a few moments. The two pulled apart, their hair messy, grinning.

“Get a room,” Pansy told them, rolling her eyes again as she turned around.

For the rest of the time, while they waited, it was just playful bickering and eating some more waffles and drinking hot chocolate. Even Blaise and Theo had shown up; as well as Dean, Seamus, and Neville.

Before they knew it, everyone was counting down.

“10, 9-”

Harry pulled Draco away from the crowd, taking him to the side. They were on a sort of rooftop, so they were looking at the fireworks from a distance from where the display actually was.

“Hey, Draco,” Harry said, slightly breathless, knowing he had to speak quickly before the countdown was over, “Before midnight, I just want you to know that… that… well… whatever the new year brings us, well I’ll… I’ll still love you and, I will never, ever let you go, and… and I’ll stop being such a pain in the ass.”

Draco blinked, before cracking a smile. “Well, it’s two seconds to midnight, so… ditto,” He said. Suddenly everyone was shouting ‘Happy New Year’, and the fireworks had begun. “Happy New Year, love.”

“Happy New Year, Draco,” Harry replied. Draco kissed him on the lips quickly before anyone could see, wrapping his arms around Harry as he stood behind him as the two stared up at the sky. “It’s beautiful. Isn’t it, Harry?”

When Draco received no response, he looked down, staring at Harry. The light from the fireworks was reflecting on Harry’s glasses, and Draco found himself unable to look away. The sight of Harry beaming as he stared up at the sky was utterly beautiful; Draco had no words to describe the way he was feeling.

Well, there was one word: love.

********

“I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!” Harry groaned as he dramatically fell back on his seat, rubbing his temples.

“Calm down, will you? It’s literally our first day back,” Draco said, leaning back as he stared at the table which was a mess, filled with papers, books, quills, ink, etc.

“And they’ve given us so much homework that I want to jump off of the Astronomy Tower,” Harry muttered, “I hate my life!”

“Ouch.”

“Ouch?” Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, ouch. I’m a part of your life, am I not?” Draco asked offendedly.

Harry sat up, biting his lip. “Well, yes. A huge part, actually-”

“So? You hate me?”

“I didn’t mean _you_ -”

“Thanks, love.”

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I hate everything in my life except for you. Better?”

Draco stared at him for a few seconds, “I don’t think you mean that.”

Harry stared back, before facepalming and turning away from him, getting back to his work. Draco chuckled before getting back to his work as well. The two were in the library, but after they were done studying and finishing off their homework, they would be going to the Room of Requirement to spend the night there.

It was a peaceful night. The two were in silence, but in a comfortable silence. After they finished their work, they gathered their stuff and went to the Room of Requirement. The two were already in their pajamas as they got into the large bed that the RoR had conjured up for them, cuddling up close together and falling asleep.

They weren’t prepared for what was going to happen the next day.

Well, you might not be either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh I don't know how to feel about this chapter.
> 
> This is literally the last weekend before school starts skjssks so I don't know how often I will be able to post chapters (I have this thing where I get the most inspiration to write in class, and zero inspiration to write during the holidays). 
> 
> Anyways, another cute chapter for you guys since the next chapter... well, you'll just see. 
> 
> Till next time! <3


	32. Chapter 32

It hadn’t been a good dream.

Far from it, actually.

“Harry, Harry,” Draco whispered when he noticed Harry groaning slightly in his sleep, sitting up. “Harry, wake up, it’s just a dream-”

Harry jerked awake, his body sweating, as tears fell down his face, breathing heavily. Draco ran a hand through Harry’s hair and wrapped his arms around him in an attempt to comfort him and calm him down.

“D-Draco, stop,” Harry whispered softly. “Draco, I said stop!” Harry suddenly bellowed, pushing the other off of him, unable to calm his breathing. “Just… just leave me alone!”

“Harry, calm down,” Draco whispered, seemingly unbothered by Harry’s outburst, “deep breaths, remember? Calm down, love.”

Harry stared into Draco’s silver eyes as his breath finally evened out, calming himself. Draco was comfortingly squeezing Harry’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Harry said truthfully. “I think… I think I just need to be alone.” He quickly got up, moving away from Draco’s touch, grabbing his wand and exiting the Room of Requirement.

As Harry walked down, he heard some movement. Harry slowly looked up and jumped when he noticed Draco standing right in front of him.

“Fucking hell, Draco, weren’t you just-”

“I never loved you,” said Draco. His eyes looked different, and he had a different expression on his face. “I was always working for Voldemort - dating you was just one of my tasks.”

“Wh-what are you on about?” Harry asked, confused, frowning as he stared at Draco, who was glaring at him.

“Harry, don’t just-” Draco, who had just exited the Room of Requirement, was stunned when he saw himself standing in front of Harry. He slowly hid behind the wall, peeking his head out to see what was going on.

“Don’t you get it, Harry? I never loved you, and I never will. The only reason I was with you was for Voldemort. Did you really think I’d have been that careless to let you find out about my Dark Mark? It was because I wanted you to. Because I wanted you to think I was a victim. You were a fool to trust me. I think you’re worthless, useless, disgusting. I never loved you, and I never will.”

Harry had tears streaming down his face as he slowly got his wand out, pointing at the Draco in front of him. “ _Riddikulus_ ,” He whispered, before slowly turning away from the Boggart.

There was silence for a few seconds, as a shaking Harry lowered his hand. The professor that had been teaching the Dark Arts lesson walked in immediately and somehow managed to get the Boggart away and back into the classroom.

When Draco was sure there was no one in the hallway, he slowly stepped out, staring at Harry who was staring at the floor, unable to decipher what was going on.

“You don’t trust me?” Draco said after a few moments.

Harry, who hadn’t noticed that Draco was there, jumped slightly when he heard him speak, looking up. Harry’s eyes widened as he quickly wiped his tears away. “Draco, I…” He didn’t know what to say. What could he do? Apologize for his deepest, darkest fear was Draco being evil and not loving him this whole time? “The Boggart came out of nowhere, and-”

“Bullshit,” Draco whispered, “You know the Boggart’s the same. Whether you’re prepared for it or not.”

Harry said nothing. This is what pained Draco even more. He put a hand to his left arm, where is Dark Mark was.

“I expected this from others,” He finally said. “I’m expected to be evil. I’m a Malfoy, and I’m a Death Eater. I expected this from others. But not from you. Not from fucking _you_.”

“Draco, please ju-”

“Were you ever planning on telling me? That a part of you - no matter how big, nor how small - still believes that I could potentially be evil, that I’m just doing Death Eater work, that-”

“Draco, _please_ ,” Harry sobbed, “ _Please_ , don’t.”

“How do you expect me to be with someone who doesn’t fucking trust me?”

“Draco, please, Draco-”

But he was already walking away, as his Dark Mark burned, as his insides lurched, as he tried holding back what felt like a storm of tears.

********

Draco had been laying down on his bed, with the doors locked, staring up at the ceiling. Draco felt like he was in Sixth Year all over again. The feelings were the same, only this time so much worse. They had been through so, so much together. Didn’t that mean anything to Harry?

_Well, clearly not._

Draco slowly sat up. He had no appetite, nor did he want to leave his room. He looked over at his bedside table, surprised to see a book out and open, left on the table. Draco didn’t remember doing such a thing. He slowly reached out and took a hold of the book, closing the book to see the title.

_Legends_

The book instantly opened up again, to page 154. The chapter’s name was ‘Love’.

It was the book Snape had given him to read. Draco remembered what his mother had said.

_“It isn’t actually glued shut, Draco,” Narcissa had said with a sigh, “He said it would open when you need it to.”_

_Well, why the hell do I need this book now?_

Draco thought of just leaving the book, but his curiosity got the better of him. After all, it had been roughly five months of wondering why the book could possibly be so important that Snape had to leave it for him.

So, he started reading.

_Love_

_As the chapter title must lead you to believe, no, this is not just any kind of love. This is love of a special sort, one that would make you, the reader, think that this is merely fiction._

_It is not._

_Wizards and witches go way back in time when it comes to love. Love has been an important need for everyone. Even the coldest person wants love. No matter the person, no matter how much you might tell yourself you do not need love, it is no use._

_You need love._

_Love comes in many different forms._

_In this chapter; it’s soulmates._

_Signs that you have a soulmate:_

 

  * __First, there will be a small streak in your hair that turns to the hair color of your soulmate. It will grow over time, and the more it is visible, the stronger your love for them is. It grows as you fall in love with them.__


  * _Feeling the other’s physical pain - this is a tricky one. It is quite hard to tell, but you just know when it’s the other’s pain._


  * _Feeling each other’s warmth, feeling better physically and mentally when the other is around you._


  * _Feeling their emotional pain. If you suddenly feel tense and you notice the other person is tense as well, this is a clear sign._


  * _Going to a very powerful extent for the other - this is also hard to detect. But if you break out of a powerful spell for the other, or perhaps are able to suddenly get a wave of strength to save the other from something, it is most likely that you have gained power for the other._


  * _Knowing what the other is thinking - this is not the same as reading thoughts, and it is very rare. It only occurs when the love is absolutely strong. When one says knowing what the other is thinking, it means that you just instantly can tell, and no words need to be exchanged in order for the other to know what they are thinking._



_There are also many other little things that add up to having a soulmate - it varies, love after love. It’s different for each person._

_Here is the legend of Nora and Phillip…_

Draco stared down at the book in disbelief, shutting it before he could read any further. This had to be a practical joke or something of the sort. Everything was so specific, so… detailed. Draco quickly ran over to the mirror in his room, staring at the streak in his hair.

Snape knew.

There was no way he wanted to be soulmates with Harry! Harry couldn’t even trust Draco, and now they were supposed to be soulmates? Draco scoffed. He hated Harry, he didn’t even want to look at him. He hated…

Who was he fucking kidding? He loved Harry. He wanted to hold Harry, or he wanted Harry to hold him. He wanted to kiss Harry until his lips ached, love him until there was no love left - but there’s always love left. Always for Harry.

Draco now stared at his own reflection for a few more seconds before slowly turning away. He had to see Harry, he had to.

Draco shut the book and put it back on the bedside table, turning and walking over to the door to exit. He had to tell Harry.

Just then, Draco heard a faint tapping against the window. He slowly turned around and saw an owl tapping its beak against the window. He slowly opened it and let the owl come in, realizing that it was Dodger, the Malfoy family’s owl.

Raising an eyebrow, Draco opened the letter that said the following:

_Emergency. Your mother is in trouble, Draco._

_Come home as soon as possible._

*********

Harry felt his chest sink deeper as he sat in the Eighth Year Common Room. He looked over at Pansy who was reading a book beside him, unsure if he should ask her where Draco was.

“Yes, Harry?” Pansy asked suddenly without looking up, making Harry jump slightly.

“Nothing, nothing… just…” Harry paused, running a hand through his hair. “Have you seen Draco?”

Pansy slowly looked up, “You don’t know where he is?”

“No?” Harry said, confused. Was he supposed to know where Draco was? “Why, do you know where he is?”

“No, I just figured he’d be somewhere around here, though,” Pansy said, her eyebrows slanting into a frown as she slowly shut her book. “How do you feel?”

“Uh… I feel a bit tired, I guess-”

“No, Harry, how do you _feel_?” Pansy said, cutting him off, staring at him intently.

Harry stared at her for a few seconds. It was almost as if she knew about how Harry felt colder and more drained when Draco wasn’t around, just the way he felt when he had been away from Draco in the summer.

“He’s not in the castle,” Harry said after a few moments of silence.

“What is all this about?” Draco said as he entered Malfoy Manor in a hurry, frowning when he noticed his father standing in the living room, facing the fireplace. “You said it was an emergency, but everything’s fine? I had to Apparate from Hogwarts-”

“It was the only way to get you here, Draco,” Lucius said, turning to face his son.

“What are you talking about?” Draco asked, confused.

“You would never listen to me if I told you to stop dating Potter, right?” Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I thought that was a given,” Draco said, slowly taking a step back. He could sense what was about to happen, and he dreaded as the moment was slowly coming.

“Well, I am telling you to stop dating Potter.”

And it came.

Exasperated, he finally replied, “well, I am not listening.”

“I knew that, of course. So I came up with a little something…” Lucius slowly got out his wand.  “I’m sure you know all about your little… _soulmate_ bond with Potter. I cannot have that happening. Soulmates are disgusting, as well as painful and unnecessary. Especially if your soulmate is Harry Potter. Honestly Draco, I really didn’t want it to come to this; but it seemed that there was no other way to convince you.”  

“What-”

Lucius mumbled a spell and cast it on Draco before the silver-eyed boy could think; before he could move out of the way. It was a purple; large spell and seemed to loom over Draco before practically going inside of his body.

“What did you do?” Draco said after a few moments, realizing that he was not in pain, nor did he feel any different.

“If Harry Potter comes too close to you, he will suffer... some serious consequences, let’s put it that way,” Lucius Malfoy explained.

Draco stared at his father in disbelief. How unlucky did his fate have to be to be fucking related to someone like Lucius Malfoy? And the fucking nerve that his father had to look ever so proud of himself; as if he was doing such a great thing. In that moment, Draco wanted nothing more than to be stripped of his family name and be able to find a way to not be related to his father.

Anger rising in his chest, Draco slowly looked up. “What kind of consequences?” He asked in a low, rough voice, feeling like he was fighting back tears, but also an urge to murder the man right before his eyes.

“I think it would be more interesting for you to find out on your own,” Lucius said with a smirk. “Now, off you go. I want you to study hard for the rest of the year-”

"Undo it. Take back the curse," Draco was saying, even though he knew it was no use. 

"It can't be undone, I'm afraid to say," Lucius replied. "Once the curse has been made; it cannot be undone." 

“I fucking hate you,” Draco whispered, tears welling up in his eyes, “get out of my goddamn sight.” Turning away, he Apparated back to Hogwarts. He had managed to hold back the storm of tears, and he had managed to fight the urge to punch the wall repeatedly, or perhaps punch his father repeatedly.

“Draco,” Harry said when he saw Draco entering the Eight-Year Common Room. An even darker feeling than before had hit Harry’s chest, making him wonder what was wrong.

But Draco simply ignored Harry calling his name, not even looking at him. He walked into the hallway and into his dorm, shutting the door, as well as using a different kind of spell to lock it. He couldn’t have Harry entering; he couldn’t have him getting too close. Draco, not even for a second, wanted to doubt his father’s words. He didn’t intend on finding out what the curse would to do Harry.

Pansy turned to Harry after watching Draco go inside his dorm, “Did something happen between the two of you?”

“Well, yes, but… but it wasn’t… I thought he would… I didn’t…” Harry, at an utter loss for words, slowly walked into the hallway, where Draco had just been moments ago, lightly knocking on the door. “Draco?”

There was no response.

“Draco, please open the door, I just… I just want to talk,” Harry was saying. “Please, Draco? I’m sorry for what happened, and…”

Harry had expected Draco to open the door by then, or at least say something. But all there was, was silence.

Pansy, who had been watching, slowly walked to Harry, gently taking his arm and squeezing it. “Leave him be for a while, okay? I’m sure he’s just upset. It’ll be okay,” Pansy said gently. “It’s better if you both just get some space…”

Harry thought what Pansy was saying was utterly ridiculous, stupid and uncalled for, but he simply nodded, too tired to argue, so he just slowly shook off Pansy’s hand. Harry only liked Draco’s touch. Everyone else squeezed his hand too tight, or too less. Harry pushed away that thought, walking away from Pansy and entering his dorm.

All Harry hoped was that Draco didn’t really mean that he couldn’t be with someone who didn’t ‘trust him’. Draco knew that Harry trusted him with every strand of his being, didn’t he? Draco would never… not trust him, no matter what…

Or maybe, after how Harry had ruined things, Draco didn’t want anything to do with him.

********

“Draco, it’s been two days. Everyone’s really worried, and Blaise is locked out of his dorm… Please, just open up?” Harry asked through the door, knocking lightly again. Everyone from Eighth Year (except for Draco and Harry) were in the Common Room, pretending that they were unable to hear Harry speaking.

It wasn’t that simple, not for Draco. He couldn’t just open the door, especially with Harry so close. Draco made sure that he was as far as possible from the door, not wanting to take any chances. ‘Too close’ for Lucius Malfoy probably meant being within the same room.

“Draco, come on, this is getting ridiculous, please, _please_ , open up,” Harry had said on the fourth day.

“Draco, please. Please just open the door. I know you’re in there, Draco,” Harry had said on the fifth day.

On the sixth day, Harry came storming down the hallway, banging on the door, kicking and trying to open it by twisting and turning the knob.

“Fuck you, Draco,” Harry was saying, “Fuck you. Get out of the fucking room, please just open the door, so we can talk. Please just let me see you. Please just let me apologize. You don’t have to forgive me. This is getting tiring. Everyone’s so worried, you know that? Not just me. If not for me, please just come outside for everyone else.”

Silence. All Harry heard was silence. Everyone else was at dinner.

What Harry didn’t hear was Draco’s silent sobs as he couldn’t bear to hear the sound of Harry’s voice breaking every time he came and talked through the door.

Harry felt anger rise up in his chest, and he banged on the door again, sitting down and leaning against the wall next to the door. “I’m not leaving until you open the goddamn door. I know you’re in there, and I know you can hear me, so stop being so hard to deal with, and please open the door.”

Draco had to tell him. So he could stay away. So he wouldn’t get too close. So that he wouldn’t be hurt. Draco hated how selfish he was being; unable to tell Harry the simple sentence.

Draco undid the spell for the locked door and finally opened it. As Harry heard the door swing open behind him, he turned to face Draco, a slight smile on his face, standing up so he could face him properly. “You finally opened the goddamn-”

Draco took many steps back, staring at Harry. “I can’t be with you anymore,” he said, cutting off Harry. He had to say it as quickly as possible. He looked away from Harry as soon as he noticed the smile fading, and the expression of utter grief-stricken smeared across his face.

“What?” Harry asked after a few moments. His chest felt heavy, and he was finding it hard to take in. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not kidding, Harry. Please just stay away from me.”

“ _Stay away from you_?” Harry repeated as if what Draco had said was so crazy; a bitter laugh escaping his lips. Harry looked up at Draco, pressing his lips. “Well, there you fucking go.”

“Harry-”

“At least tell me,” Harry was saying, hot tears running down his face, his vision slightly blurry, “is it because of the Boggart?”

“Harry, please stop making things harder for me-”

“Fuck off,” Harry whispered. “This is probably just a fucking relief for you than anything else. Stop with the fake tears.”

Then, he turned, and walked away, not looking back.

That’s when Draco realized that he had been crying too.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter... wow. I mean, I hope you like it? 
> 
> So. I need a little help. I can guarantee that not even one person is still reading this story, but I'm taking all the chances I can get. 
> 
> I don't like the title of this fan-fiction. I'm considering changing it, but I suck at making titles. 
> 
> So, if you're somehow still here and reading this, do you have any ideas of what I could make the title? 'He was Never the Enemy' was anyways just supposed to be a temporary title, but I never got around to changing it. 
> 
> Your thoughts? 
> 
> Till next time, 
> 
> malfoypolix <3


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